Enigma: The Alexander Chronicles
by David-El
Summary: Percy wasn't the only half-blood who arrived at Camp that year. But this one has no living relatives and powers unlike any others. Who is he, and who is his Olympian Parent? Set during TLT, first in The Alexander Chronicles.
1. The Pact

**Mystery Boy:**

**The Alexander Chronicles**

**Part I: The Pact**

_A half-blood of the eldest gods_

_shall reach sixteen against all odds_

_And see the world in endless sleep_

_The hero's soul, cursed blade shall reap_

_A single choice shall end his days_

_Olympus to preserve or raze_

_Great Prophecy, Oracle of Delphi-c.1935_

_Men are haunted by the vastness of eternity. And so we ask ourselves: will our actions echo across the centuries? Will strangers hear our names long after we're gone and wonder who we were, how bravely we fought, how fiercely we loved?_

**New York, Winter Solstice, 1940**

On the top floor of the Empire State Building, a meeting between the 12 most powerful beings is taking place. It is one that they hope will preserve Western Civilization for decades to come.

"Now to our last piece of business, what do we do about the prophecy?" The handsome, black-haired man with a salt-and-pepper beard at the head of the table was obviously the leader of the thirteen.

"The wisest course would be to kill those that are under 16, and the three of you swear never to have any relations with mortals again."

"NO! I refuse to give up my children!" The pale-faced man at the far end of the table was furious at the woman's suggestion.

"Peace, brother. I would not have us act like barbarians. You could just have them sent to Camp, where we could guard them until their 16th year."

"And what of my second suggestion, father? Your mortal children cause us nothing but trouble, as this European War proves. You _must_ abstain from mortals until we can eliminate this threat."

"Ah, sis! That would rob me of so much business!" At that, the woman glared across the table at man who spoke. It was clear, she despised him, and their rivalry stretched back to their youth.

"Well, _I_ approve completely." The woman had long chocolate brown hair woven into a braid with gold ribbons and sat at the head of the table, next to the bearded man.

"Well of course you would, you hate the _idea_ of affairs! Besides, not allowing them to have children would hurt _my_ business as well!" This woman could only be described as the definition of beautiful.

"Oh, please. Let's just get this over with and vote." This man had sea-green eyes and a neatly trimmed black beard and a fishing pole by his chair.

"Any objections? No? Then let's vote." The vote ended with five against and eight for. "My daughter's suggestion has passed, we shall avoid all relations with mortals and your children shall be brought to the camp within a week."

"What, send them to a place where they're not welcome? NO! _I _will take care of them." And with that, the pale man stormed out of the room.

Two weeks later, the pale man's lover had died and their children had disappeared.

In 1989, the leader of the thirteen had a daughter, against the Pact of 1940, and 14 years later, she was killed just outside of the special camp for people like her.

Then, in 1992, both the leader and the fisherman broke the pact. But their children were lost for 12 years...


	2. Our Teacher is a Fury?

Disclaimer: I don't own Percy, the Olympians or pretty much anyone else. The only one I do own is Alex Summers.

**Mystery Boy:**

**The Alexander Chronicles**

**Part II: Our Teacher is a Fury?**

My name is Alexander Summers, or Alex to my friends. I'm twelve years old, and until a few months ago I was a student at Yancey Academy. Before you ask, no, I didn't come here after Percy's infamous stay. We were actually classmates and good friends (Don't ask me why Rick Riordan never mentioned me.) My life changed that fateful field trip to the Metropolitan Museum. Despite being an eternal optimist, I had a bad feeling about this field trip. See, while Percy just had bad luck on field trips, I was a curse on teachers that went with me. On the Saratoga trip, while Percy was blowing up school buses, I was blowing teachers' ears off. No, I don't mean I was talking too much. We were allowed to handle replicas of the muskets that were used at the battle, how was I to know some were loaded and on a hair trigger? Of course, I was booted out of that school. Last I'd heard, the teacher was in a local psych ward, recovering from a "near-death experience." My fourth grade teacher is still in a coma because I accidentally hit him with Jupiter. In fact, if you go through my school history, you'd notice that within a week of a field trip, I'm booted out and a teacher is either in a hospital or the psych ward.

At the time, the three of us (Percy, Grover and I) were the closest of friends, and I was the main protector of the group. Although I wasn't much bigger than Percy, I was easily the strongest of us, not to brag, but I'd taken on high schoolers and won. After Mr. Brunner asked Percy about how he thought the story of Kronos and the Olympians meant I added my own suggestion, "Excuse me, Mr. Brunner, but I think I have an answer."

"Please, enlighten us Alex."

"Well, Kronos is a symbol of chaos, since that's what his reign was like, men were still living in caves at the time, living at a subsistence level. While the Olympians are a symbol of Civilization, with them in charge, man learned to make fire, built cities and ships, and even created art. The battle between Kronos and the Olympians is the battle between the forces of chaos and Civilization, only one can rule at a time."

"Very good Alex. Very good indeed, extra credit for such a unique answer. And the answer I expected from you and Percy." He always expected the best from us, even though he knew that we both suffered from ADHD and dyslexia. The only reason that I got high scores on lessons was because I used a pen that was designed for the deaf so they could read.

We then gathered outside for lunch. Overhead, a huge, angry storm was hitting New York. I'd always loved storms, sometimes it was the only thing that could calm me down, I know, weird. Only these storms were very unusual, there was only one way to describe them. "Zeus and Poseidon are angry."

"Huh? What did you say?" Grover was shocked, to say the least.

"These storms, it's like the sky and the sea are fighting, or as the Greeks would put it, Zeus and Poseidon are fighting." It looked like Grover was about to reply when Nancy Bobofit dumped half her lunch on his lap. That's when _it_ happened. Just as Nancy was about to start laughing at Grover, water from the pool _grabbed_ her and pulled her into it. _(__**A/N**__:____I know the book says fountain and not pool, but from what I've seen of the museum, it has two pools in front, and no fountain)_ Of course, Ms. Dodds noticed what happened, and called Percy, insisting he come with her. I naturally attempted to defend him, but surprisingly, so did Grover. Not surprisingly, she didn't believe us and insisted we stay put. So of course I had to follow. Looking back, I'm not sure that was the wisest course of action.

She lead us to the Greco-Roman gallery, where she attempted to get Percy to confess to a vague _something_ he had done. Percy didn't know what she was talking about, and after he said so, Strange Event 2 happened. Ms. Dodds started changing into something _inhuman_, a monster, one that I _recognized_. _No way_, I thought, _a Fury!_ Then, Mr. B threw Percy a pen, _Mr. B, he's fighting a monster, not taking a test!_, but when it landed in Percy's hand, it changed into a sword. Then Percy swung the sword at the Fury, and she vaporized into a cloud of sulfur. But she wasn't done. A cloud of green mist came from the center of the sulfur cloud and quickly spread out from there.

I ran outside, and ran into Bobofit. She got after me and said, "I'm going to tell Mrs. Kerr on you!"

"Who?" I had no idea who she was talking about. I'd never even _heard_ of a Mrs. Kerr before.

"Our teacher, _duh_. I swear, you are one of the stupidest people on earth!" I turned to Grover and asked who Mrs. Kerr was, and he claimed that she was our math teacher. But I know that he hesitated when he answered. Percy came out soon after, and he looked confused. He asked Grover about Mrs. Dodds, and again he hesitated before answering, saying he didn't know who she was. He then returned Mr. B's "pen" to him and came back, looking even more confused.

I felt sorry for him and decided to help him, so I pulled him aside. When we were out of earshot, I told him "I saw what happened to Mrs. Dodds."

"So you do remember her?"

"Of course I remember her. How could I forget a teacher that turned into a Fury in front of my eyes?"

"What did you call her?"

"A Fury. Come on Percy, you've got to recognize that name. I think Mr. B would be upset with you if you didn't." We continued discussing what happened, and realized we saw exactly the same thing, (except he never noticed the mist) and decided to work together and try to figure out what was going on.


	3. So Spin the Fates

**A/N**: I recently saw the movie, and all I've got to say is, _WOW_! And I'm going to use part of the movie in this story, but it will remain mostly book-verse. And I'm not going to publish the next chapter until I get at least 5 reviews.

**Mystery Boy:**

**The Alexander Chronicles**

**Part III: So Spin the Fates**

Over the next few months, Percy and I would drop a reference to Ms. Dodds, but apparently the Mist had completely destroyed any memory of her from everyone but us. The unusual storms got worse and more common as the school year wound down, and with it, our tempers got worse, so that we even fought each other, and our grades slipped so much that I got my first F in a subject other than spelling. The straw that broke the camel's back of our stay at Yancey was when Mr. Nicoll asked why we never studied for his spelling tests. I stood up in class and said, "Study, Mr. Nicoll? What's the point in studying spelling when we have dyslexia? We're always lucky to get a score over 25%, so why bother when we have better things to do?" I'm surprised that I wasn't booted out immediately after that. By the night before the exams, the only test I was studying for was Latin. Percy felt the same, but was willing to go the extra mile to pass and left to ask Mr. Brunner for help, but when he came back, he was clearly in shock. When I asked what was wrong, he said that he had overheard Grover and Mr. B talking about us. When I insisted that he tell me what he heard, he was actually able to remember it word for word. _(A/N: The italics portion is told by Percy)_

_". . . alone this summer. I mean, a Kindly One in the _school_! Now that we know for sure, and _they_ know too-"_

_"We would only make things worse by rushing him. We need the boy to mature more."_

_"But he may not have time. The summer solstice deadline-"_

_"Will have to be resolved without him, Grover. Let him enjoy his ignorance while he can."_

_"Sir, he _saw_ her . . ."_

_"His imagination. The Mist over the students and staff will be enough to convince him of that."_

_"I don't know about that sir. Alex can see through the Mist, and I'm convinced he's talked to Percy about her."_

_"Summers? That could be troublesome, but hopefully not enough to endanger him."_

_"Sir, I . . . I can't fail in my duties again. You know what that would mean."_

_"You haven't failed, Grover. I should have recognizer her for what she was. Now let's just worry about keeping Percy alive till next fall-" When I heard that, I dropped my textbook, pretty loudly too._

_"Nothing. My nerves haven't been right since the winter solstice." "Mine neither. But I could have sworn-"_

_"Go back to the dorm. You've got a long day of exams tomorrow."_

_"But what about Alex? I think he may be one too."_

_"You never said anything before. Why now?"_

_"His scent is finally breaking through the stench of the guy his mom is with now. The guy's scent is even stronger than Mr. Ugliano."_

_"Really? I can't believe that anyone could smell more human than him, or that a half-blood would need that much protection. But just in case, keep an eye on Alex, we need as many campers as we can get."_

_"Yes, sir."_

"Are you sure that they called Ms. Dodds, a Kindly One?"

"Yeah, why? What's that got to do with anything?"

"Because that's what the Greeks called Furies, Eumenides, literally translated Kindly Ones. But how do they know about them, and why were they talking about us?" Unfortunately we didn't have time to ask Grover, and the only time we saw Mr. B was at the test. Fortunately, Grover took the same bus to New York as we did. About halfway there, Percy finally got up the courage to ask, "Looking for Kindly Ones?" When Grover asked what he meant, Percy confessed to eavesdropping.

"How much did you overhear?"

"Oh . . . not much. What's the summer solstice deadline?"

Grover was clearly upset that Percy had heard that but said nothing about it. "Look, Percy . . . I was just worried for you, see? I mean, hallucinating about demon math teachers. . ."

"_Hallucinating?_ Grover! I saw her too!"

"And I was telling Mr. Brunner that maybe you two were overstressed or something, because there was no such person as Ms. Dodds. . ."

"Grover, you're a terrible liar." A few minutes and a tense talk later, we pulled off to the side of the highway while the driver did some engine work. On the other side of the highway were three ancient ladies knitting giant socks, not something you see everyday. But when Grover saw them, he turned so pale, it was like the color had been bleached out of him. "Grover? Hey man. . ."

"Tell me they're not looking at you two. They are, aren't they?"

"Yeah. Weird, huh? You think those socks would fit us?"

"Uh, Percy, I don't think that's why they were staring at us, is it Grover?"

"We're getting on the bus. Come on."

"What? It's a thousand degrees in there."

I suspected that they were something _special_ too, so I didn't argue with Grover, even if it was an oven in the bus. And when one of the ladies snipped the yarn so loudly _we_ could hear it across four lanes of highway, I knew. But I didn't say a word until Percy asked what was so important about a lady snipping some thread. "Sic Volvere Parcas."

"Huh? What did you say?"

"Sic Volvere Parcas. Weren't you listening at all during Mr. B's class?"

"Yeah, but I don't remember that phrase. What is it?"

"So spin the Fates. That's who the ladies were, right Grover? Or do you prefer to call them by their Greek name, Moirae?" Unfortunately, Grover wasn't much for talking at the time. He was looking at us like he was preparing to bury us within days. Looking back, he was right, in one way.

A/N: Prepare for some action next chapter, and a hint to who Alex's Olympian parent is. And prepare for a monster you won't find in any Greek myth.


	4. Night of Terror

**A/N**: Alright, I give. Three reviews is good enough for chapter four. Also, iluvpencils got after me for not doing this earlier, so: I don't own Percy Jackson and The Olympians, or any creature in this story. The only thing I do own is Alexander Summers. And I own something that will be introduced in the next chapter, something that Alex will use for his weapons that will make him unique among the demigods.

**Mystery Boy:**

**The Alexander Chronicles**

**Part IV: Night of Terror**

I stayed on the bus until Metropolitan Avenue in Queens, in between two cemeteries. I wasn't even off the bus five minutes before I was plucked off the road and into the air by, wouldn't you know it, a Fury. "Alright, who are you?" I asked.

"I'm an Erinyes, as if you didn't know." Her voice could only be described as hideous.

"Clearly, but which one?"

"Megaera, servant of Hades. Now, _**where is it?**_" By now, she had carried me to Forest Park and dropped me in a tree.

"I don't know what you're talking about! What are you looking for, and what makes you think I have _it_?"

"Tisiphone, help him remember." It was only now that I noticed that I had attracted _two_ of the Furies. I knew I was in trouble now. I started wondering where Alecto was, but then I realized that Alecto was probably the true name of Ms. Dodds. As time seemed to slow down around me, I realized that Tisiphone was flying at me, clearly bent on torturing me until I gave them the information they wanted. Taking the only sane option I had, I waited till the last second, and jumped onto Tisi and held on for dear life. I grabbed her by the ears, straddling her like a horse, and using her ears like reins, slammed her into Meg and then guided her to the Aqueduct Racetrack. When we hit, we hit _hard_, but we got up quickly; and when I noticed that her wing was hurt, I leaped back on her, and using a surge of strength I felt flowing in my veins, snapped her neck. Seconds later, she burst into a cloud of sulfur, while Megaera flew off, probably to report back to Hades.

A word before you meet my mom and her current boyfriend. _He_ is a drunk, junkie, chain-smoking gambler that can't even hold a day job. I never bothered to learn his name and just call him The Mess. My mom on the other hand, is unique, even among the others like me. She's where I get my eternal optimism from, and once you hear her story you'll understand. Her parents were an Orthodox Jewess and a Methodist preacher's kid that were disinherited when they were married, and then they disinherited her when they found out that she was pregnant with me out of wedlock, when she was 19. Then she went through a succession of boyfriends after she gave birth to me, each one worse than the last, with one exception, Dr. Charles Egan. The one time I thought she would get married, he ran off within 48 hours of proposing. That was seven years ago, and we haven't heard from him since. He was the only one that I liked, but it was soon after he left that Mom started dating men that she picked up off the street, eventually culminating in The Mess.

When I arrived at my Forest Hills home, I was immediately grabbed by The Mess, clearly on one of his dozen or so drugs, and demanded that I fork over what little money I had left from school, so I handed over what little money I had left as most of it fell out of my pocket fighting and riding Tisi and ran for my room. I had just started to calm down from the events of the past few hours, when my mom came into the room. Unfortunately for me, mom was very observant and I hadn't been able to change clothes or hide the scent of sulfur, so she immediately knew something had happened. "Alex, what's going on? What's with the sulfur dust on your clothes?"

"It's nothing Mom."

"Alexander Summers. Tell me what happened." I knew that when she used my full name, and in _that_ tone, I had to answer. So, I told her everything, starting with Alecto's attack on Percy to Tisiphone's death. I could tell that the events of the past month had her freaked. "Alex. Get some stuff together. We're going on a short trip."

"Mom, what's going on?"

"I'll tell you when we get there." I decided to take her at her word and packed a few changes of clothes and my two favorite presents from Dr. Egan. I threw my bag into the car just as my mom started our car. Figuring it would be a few hours before we got to wherever we were going, I decided to take a short nap.

_On the trip, I had a vivid dream. I was standing on the beach, where three men were fighting. They looked like brothers, dressed in the tunics of the Ancient Greeks. The first was dressed in a tunic the color of a storm cloud and wore a large crown. The second wore a tunic as blue as the sea and wore a smaller crown that looked like it was made of coral. The third man wore a tunic as black as coal, was as pale as death, and wore a crown that was the same size as the second man and was covered in gems. The first and third men were both demanding, "Give it back! Give it back!" As I looked around I noticed a scythe standing in the shadows, applauding. The scythe spoke in a voice that was powerful, ancient, and dangerous. It said, "Yes, fight! Fight until one has won! Fight, and I shall be the ultimate victor!" Then I noticed someone was standing in the shadows, at the base of the scythe. I could almost see him, when . . ._

I woke up to the sound of my mom saying, "Alex, it's time." I sat up, and nodded, letting her know that I was listening. "You know the Greek myths? Well, they're not myths. Every story actually happened. And the Olympians are real, and one of them is your father."

"What? What happened to our faith? What happened to believing in Adonai?" Mom had taught me the faith of her parents since the cradle, teaching me to believe in the God of Israel, and that Yeshua was the Messiah we had been looking forward to for four thousand years.

"Nothing has changed. Think of the Olympians like this: they are gods, but only in the way that Superman or _Star Trek_'s Q are gods, they are nearly immortal, and have powers beyond those of mortal men. They aren't even as powerful as angels. Now, your father is . . ." She would have continued, except for the fact that something landed on the hood of the car, driving us off the road. "Alex! Get out of the car now!" I jumped out as quickly as possible, only slowing to grab my bag.

I looked around and noticed two creatures nearby. The first was one that I wasn't surprised to see, Meg. But she had brought a friend that I recognized, but I _knew_ that was not from any Greek myth, er, history. This monster had the body of a jaguar, the wings of a condor, and the head of a giant snake. "Alex!" I turned from the monster towards my mom. "Listen! You see the lone pine on the top of that hill?" She pointed towards a hill that had only one tree on it, a pine that could have passed for the giant Times Square Christmas tree. "Get to the top of the hill and you'll be safe!" I got ready to run when she grabbed my arm and said, "Alex, your father. Know that _he_ is the reason I named you Alexander."

As I turned to run towards the hill, I saw the monster dive towards me. It just missed me, but instead of turning around for another pass, it pounced on my mom, and bit her, the 18-inch long fangs passing straight through her lungs. I screamed and charged for Meg, who was making her own pass at me. I grabbed her head and broke her neck as easily as I would a twig. I then jumped on the back of the monster, grabbed it by the fangs, and flew it towards the hill. As I was riding the beast, I felt a change occurring inside me. It wasn't the thrill of flight, or the sadness of my mother's death. It wasn't the change I knew happened in my eyes, the change of color from the blue that matched the sky so perfectly that you couldn't tell where the pupil ended and the white began- to the black of the worst storm cloud. No, it was the power that coursed through me as some small part of me realized who my father was, a power that demanded release. Without knowing how I did it, I grabbed the neck of the beast, and released the energy, which coursed through the beast, killing it.

It crashed into the ground just beyond the pine tree, and it slid down the hill all the way to the base, where a large group of people had gathered. Three stood out from the rest, two girls and one boy. The first girl was a beautiful blonde with grey eyes who appeared to be my age. The second girl was unattractive at best and mean looking and a couple of years older than me or the blonde, she actually reminded me a little of Nancy Bobofit. The boy was also unattractive (not that I'm like that, mind you) and huge. They were the last things I saw before I collapsed, exhausted from the release of energy that had killed the beast.

While I was unconscious, I heard a beautiful voice say, "Chiron, what do we do with him?" I knew it had to belong to the blonde.

"Take him to the Big House. We'll see what happens after that." I could have sworn that Mr. Brunner had said that.

"And what about his mom? We saw that _thing_ kill her just outside the camp." Hmm, he sounds nice.

"Bury her by Thalia's Tree. As for the creature, put it near the kitchen. Hopefully Alex will be able to tell us what it is."

"Ahh, you mean we can't use it for target practice? And what do we do about the teeth he has?" Ugh, she sounds as mean as she looks.

"Sorry, Clarisse. But the beast will _not_ be used by Ares to slice to pieces, we need to study it. As for the teeth, Alex earned them the hard way. Annabeth, take the teeth out of his hands and put them in his bag. We'll let him decide what to do with them when he wakes up." With that, I felt someone pick me up, carry me a short distance, and place me on a bed. After that, I heard no more.

**A/N**: Well, that's chapter 4. The beast's name and origin will be revealed next chapter. And I welcome guesses as to who Alex's dad is, but I won't tell you if you're right. IF someone does guess right, I will say so, I just won't name who. Also, if someone has a half-blood or monster that they'd like me to add, please let me know and I'll try to work them in. And the monsters don't have to be Greek.


	5. Day of Beginnings

**Mystery Boy:**

**The Alexander Chronicles**

**Part V: Day of Beginnings**

A few hours later, I woke as I felt the first rays of the sun touch my skin. I walked outside to see what kind of place Mom had died to get me to. One of the first things I noticed, was the fact that I was not the first one up. In the middle of a football sized field, surrounded by twelve cabins, was a large campfire where an eight-year-old girl was tending the fire. I walked up to her and said, "Hi, who are you?"

"Well, this is unusual. It's rare that one of you comes to me first, or at all for that matter."

"What do you mean, one of us? And again, who are you?"

She laughed, saying, "One of you demigods. Usually you take little or no notice of me. And my name's Hestia, not that you'd know me."

"Hestia? You don't mean the daughter of Kronos, do you? The Greek goddess of the hearth and home? Also known as Vesta, the Roman goddess of hearth and home?"

"You know who I am? Wow, I'm even more impressed with you, Alex. If your mom taught you that well about us, than I wish I'd been able to keep her alive."

"Thanks, I think. But what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be on Olympus?"

"Oh, I'm here whenever a new half-blood shows up. Anytime a family grows, I'm there. So, how did you remember me? Usually, even if one of you have heard of me, you don't remember me."

"I've got photographic memory. Besides, you are THE most important Olympian in my mind."

That really shocked her. "Me? Why do you say that?"

"Well what's more important than home? What's the use of love, or work without a home? Why do people fight, if not for their home?"

"Now I really like you. If only I could say 'Welcome to your new home.' Alas, but I can't. Your goal of a true home lies elsewhere, son of Rome." With that, she vanished, leaving me more confused than Janus, the god with two heads.

"Who was that?" I knew that voice, it was the beautiful one from last night. I turned, and saw the blonde girl behind me. Ha, I knew the voice had to belong to her.

"That was Hestia. I presume that you're Annabeth?"

"Yes, how did you know?"

"I heard Chiron mention your name last night. Where is he? I'm assuming he's the one in charge here."

"He should be at the Big House, the building you stayed in last night. But back up, what do you mean you heard us last night? You were unconscious. How could you have heard us?"

"I don't know. It's just something I can do. No matter whether I'm awake, asleep, or unconscious I hear everything around me, and remember it. Why?"

"It could be a clue to the identity of your Olympian parent. In your case, it would probably be Morpheus, god of sleep & dreams. Hopefully you'll be determined soon."

"Determined?"

"Most of us don't know our Olympian parent when we arrive. So we wait until they claim us. I don't suppose you know, do you?"

"No, Mom never even mentioned I was a demigod until last night. The only hint she gave was that she named me Alexander for a reason. Who knows what that means. Have you been determined?"

"Yeah, I knew before I got here. My mom's Athena, cabin 8 if you're interested."

"So, where will I be staying?"

"Hermes cabin, number 11. Last one on the right. At least until you're determined." By this time, the camp was buzzing with activity, and nearly all the cabins were noisier than a New York street during rush hour. "You see the tall blonde boy over there? That's your cabin counselor, Luke. He'll tell you all you need to know." I looked at the guy she mentioned. He looked like he was about 19, fairly tall and muscular. He gave the impression of someone who could either be your best friend or your worst enemy. Right then, I decided to make it my mission at camp to win him over as a friend.

"Hi, my name's Alex Summers. You're Luke, right?"

"That's me. You new here?"

"Just arrived last night. Annabeth said I was to stay with you until I was determined."

"Last night? But the only person to get here last night was some kid who crashed in on a mystery monster. You don't look like you could have killed it without a weapon."

"Well I did. I don't know how, but I did. So, which bunk is mine?"

At that Luke started laughing. "Bunk? The temps are lucky if they get a piece of the floor large enough to sleep on."

"In that case, how much of the roof is clear?"

"The roof? Ha, that's a good one."

"No, really. Is there room on the roof?"

"You're serious?" I nodded firmly. "Well, in that case, the roof is all yours, if you can get up there that is."

"Well, let me get my stuff and I'll take on that challenge. Chiron will know where it is, right?" Luke nodded, and I headed back to the Big House. When I got inside, someone was waiting for me. That someone was clearly a centaur, but that's not what surprised me. "Mr. Brunner? _You're_ Chiron?"

"Ah, Alex. There you are. I didn't expect you to get up on your first day. Second maybe, but definitely not the first. Would you like something to drink?"

"Sure, but are you _the_ Chiron? And if you are, how's that possible? I seem to remember that you asked to become mortal to escape the pain of one of Hercules arrows." While I was talking, he handed me a golden iced drink. I took a sip, expecting a fruit juice. But what I actually tasted could only be described as liquid gold.

As I drank it, Mr. B/Chiron explained about the camp. He really was _the_ Chiron from the myths, but he never came anywhere near Hercules' poisoned arrows, and he explained that the Olympians were alive and still up to their old tricks, and the camp was to deal with the children that resulted. Then he lead me down to the camp arena, apparently he had two reasons to do so, first was to meet the other director of the camp, and the second he was staying mum on.

We were just entering the arena when I heard a man say, "So, this is the boy that raised such a ruckus." The guy that spoke was a small, chubby man who was clearly no stranger to alcohol, but that wasn't the odd thing. For the briefest second, I saw something completely different: the man I saw was a small, ancient man with a large nose who clearly ate and drank too much. The image was so hilarious that I had to laugh. "And what are you laughing at young man?" This guy clearly had a temper, probably because he'd been away from alcohol too long.

"Mr. D, please be nicer to him. Alex, this is Mr. D, he is the other camp director," Chiron introduced. "Now, could you please tell us what _this_ is, if you can?" He pointed at a carcass deep in the early morning shadows of the arena. I moved closer so I could get a better look at it. "Do you know what it is, Alex?"

"Yeah, I know what it is. It's called a Demonio del Muerta, Spanish for Demon of the Dead, I don't know it's native name. If this camp is focused on the Greek myths, then I'm not surprised you can't recognize it. It's American, Inca or Chachapoya to be exact. It's a servant of their version of Hades, a god called Sapoy. It's part jaguar, part condor, and part snake. And this one killed my mother."

"If it's a monster, then why hasn't it turned to dust?" Mr. D had grown very upset by this point.

"Probably because it's not a Greek monster, just something Hades recruited over the millennia. Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to go back home."

"Now, wait just a minute Alan! You can't go home, as much as I'd like it, it's too dangerous for you!"

"Why, Dionysus! Genuine concern for a demigod? I'm surprised," I said sarcastically. "You'd earned a reputation for hating us. And two things. First, the name's Alex, or Alexander if you insist on the long version. Second, the only home I have now is here, at camp. Another thing, the disguise ain't bad, but I've seen the real you. And I've got to say, you look foolish. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if some jesters based themselves on the real you."

"DO NOT, TEST ME, BOY!" I think I really ticked him off that time, but I couldn't resist having the final word.

"Test you? Mr. D! You don't know the meaning of the word." With that, I left the arena and all Dionysus could do was fume at my parting shot. When I arrived at Hermes, I stopped for a few seconds near Luke, just long enough to say, "You forgot to mention that Dionysus was in charge of the camp." I then headed to the second floor and started scanning the ceiling for the telltale sign that would lead me to the roof. Naturally it was at the far end of the hallway, but I was able to get to the roof. On the roof, I was able to set up a small cot to sleep on, hang the fangs on a section of raised wall, and set up the three things I valued most in the world. The items were three models given to me by Dr. Egan while he was still with my mom. The first was a model of the Tabernacle of Moses, the second was the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem. The final model held the greatest sentimental value for me as Charles gave it to me only 24 hours before he disappeared, a model of the Temple of Zeus at Olympia. I'd always wondered why he gave me that, I'd never shown any interest in the Greek myths before then. In fact it was the model that got me interested in them in the first place. I then grabbed my violin and started playing _Amazing Grace_.

I had just finished when I noticed Luke about to step on the Tabernacle. "You better watch your feet Luke, or you might lose one."

Luckily, he noticed what he was about to do and backed away. "Sorry, I just wanted to see what you did with the place, and I got to say, not bad. And you were great on the violin. Maybe you're one of Apollo's, they're the only ones good with music around here. Oh, and we've got rock-climbing in five minutes."

"Thanks Luke. How did you get up here?" He pointed to his shoes, it was only then that his shoes had wings on them. So I decided to explain how I got up here, I couldn't have him destroying my stuff if he landed on it one day. "You know Luke, there is a door that leads up here. Just go to the end of the hallway on the second floor and look up. You'll see a hole in the wood just large enough for a finger to fit in. You pull it down, and you'll release a set of stairs that lead up here."

I sucked at the climbing wall, I was nearly killed _twelve_ times on _one _trip, and I vowed never to climb it again, and just to make sure they _knew_ I was serious, I made sure to do it on the Styx. I was absolutely _terrible_ at Greek, struggling to learn just the alphabet, and I got creamed again in foot races, _all_ of my cabin-mates beat me. We were on our way to sword lessons, when I got caught by Ms. Ugly from last night. "HOLD IT! You're not going anywhere yet, Summers! We've got an initiation for you."

"Do you really want to go up against us, Clarisse?" Wow, Luke was defending me. Then again, maybe he just didn't like her.

"Listen, Clarisse. I'll make you a deal."

"What kind of deal, newbie?"

"We're headed to the arena, so how about this. You and I duel, you win, and you can do whatever you want to me for a week. I win, and you don't touch me or my friends. Deal?"

"Done!" She couldn't have been happier.

"Alex, what did you do? She's a daughter of Ares! She'll kill you!" Hmm, so it was concern for me. Luke was really impressing me now.

"I figured that, that's why I suggested it."

"Are you nuts? Going up against an Ares kid! You do know who Ares is, right?"

"Of course, god of war. But don't worry, I've got a plan." When we got to the arena, Clarisse got into full war regalia, breastplate, shield, the whole nine yards. Luke, in the meantime was trying to get me ready, by loading me up on armor, but I insisted on taking only a sword. The sword I grabbed seemed to be more Roman in design, longer than the others and slightly heavier, but to me it seemed to be so perfectly designed for me that it was almost an extension of my arm.

Luke was still trying to get me to change my mind about the fight. "Are you _**sure**_ that I can't persuade you to take some armor? Just a shield?" My only response was to move to the center of the arena and take up a classic fighting stance, feet spread apart and sword raised at an angle. Clarisse charged me and I stepped aside at the last second, hitting her in the back with my sword and then backing off. She made a few more attempts to barrel me over, but they all ended the same way. Clarisse then made a few stabs with her spear, but I was able to dodge all but the last. The last one hit on my arm with a jolt of electricity that actually felt _good_. With a surge of adrenaline, I slashed at Clarisse, cutting a huge gash in her breastplate and then causing a huge dent in her shield _and_ knocking her spear away. She grabbed a sword off her belt, and moved in, slowly this time. The next fifteen minutes seemed to pass in seconds, with no one getting the upper hand. But I watched carefully for the signs I knew would soon be coming. Thrust, block, counter-thrust, block, we continued until I saw what I was looking for: beads of sweat on her skin, slower responses, drooping shoulders. I made my move. Moving to take advantage of her, I slashed her shoulders then knocked her helmet and sword away, ending the fight with my sword at the back of her neck.

Our audience was frozen in shock, no one could believe that I had beat her. Luke was the only one who could speak, and even he was stuttering, "How. . . how did you _do that_? She's. . . she's almost . . . as good as _me_."

"It's all about planning ahead. If you come up against a better fighter, follow Odysseus' lead. Instead of _outfighting_ them, you need to _outthink_ them. All of Clarisse's armor hurt her. The breastplate added weight, so she couldn't move as fast. The shield added weight, kept her off balance, and kept her from using her sword and spear at the same time. And the helmet narrowed her vision, so I could attack her from the side and she wouldn't notice. I had only the sword so I could move faster and more quickly than her."

"Hmm, sounds like something Athena would say," Luke replied. Then he noticed my arm. "Hey, didn't she get you on the arm?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Where's your wound?" I looked at my arm, and the only way you could tell there had even been a cut was the fact that my shirt was still cut, and stained with blood. "Okay, _that's_ unusual. Who could heal that fast? Aceso, or maybe Asclepios, or Panacea?" Wow, I thought I was the only one who knew about _those _particular deities, and Luke even remembered that they were the deities of healing. After everyone recovered, we went on to archery. There, I had a problem. But it's not a problem you would expect from a first time archer, I couldn't find a bow that fit me. Chiron said that when you pull on a bow, you should feel resistance, but every single one of them gave easily.

"Hmm, we don't have any other bows, so what do we do now?" Chiron seemed very confused, I doubted he had ever had a situation like this before.

"What about _his_ bow, Chiron? I know we have it in the trophy room. Why don't we let Alex try it out?" Hmm, wonder what Luke means by _his_ bow. Chiron agreed, and Luke sent the fastest boy from our cabin to the Big House. While Namir was gone, Chiron taught as much about archery as he could considering I didn't have a bow. Fortunately, Namir returned quickly and handed me a huge recurve style bow.

"So, whose bow is this?" I asked.

"You're holding a bow of legend, Alex. This is the bow of Odysseus. No one has been able to string the bow since _he_ died. And I do mean, no one. Not even Chiron here could string it." WOAH! I was holding the bow of my hero! And he was the last one to use it! I could hardly believe what was going on, but a small nudge from Chiron woke me up from my shock. I grabbed the string, but I couldn't get the bow to bend. Then, I stopped and studied the bow carefully, and noticed that the bow was _thicker_ at the "top" than at the "bottom" and I realized Odysseus had tricked those who would claim the bow. I quickly unstrung the bow and restrung it opposite of the way it had been and tried again. This time, the bow bent easily, and I was able to string it. As I picked it up, it felt as natural as the sword had. I notched an arrow and pulled it back easily, but this time I felt the resistance the others had lacked, I took aim and fired. Then, without even checking my previous shot, I fired again and again.

"Whoa, hold it there Alex." Luke ran up to the targets and froze there. When he came back, he was holding the target. The first arrow had hit dead center in the target, the second arrow had split the first, and the third had done the same thing. "Makes me think you really are one of Apollo's. First, you're really good on the violin, you heal fast, and now you're a crack shot with the bow." After that, they gave me harder and harder targets to hit. When we moved on to the javelin, we discovered that I simply could not miss. No matter how far the target, or how small, I hit the bull's-eye every time.

When we were allowed to do what we wished, I made a beeline for the Hephaestus Cabin. I'd had an idea during sword training, and I knew that if anyone would know if it was feasible, it would be one of them. "Is anybody home?" I shouted. Fortunately for me, there was.

"Hi, I'm Charles Beckendorf."

"Hi, I was hoping you could help me out with something."

"Oh? What's that?"

"I've got an idea for a weapon. From what I understand, celestial bronze hurts mythological beings and steel hurts mortals. Now, has anyone ever tried to make celestial steel?"

"Not that I know. Stygian steel, sure. But celestial? I don't think so. It sounds interesting though. What would you like?"

"Let's start small, just get me some arrowheads, and one spearhead. And try to get it as pure as possible."

"Will do. I'll have Jake Mason work with me. The more of us you have working, the sooner it will get done."

"Thanks. Oh, and one more thing. Could you work on some designs for me? I was thinking of merging a sword and a bow into one."

"Huh?"

"You've seen Chiron's pen that becomes a sword, right? I'd like something like that, but one that has a bow as well as a sword. And one other weapon."

"I'll get right on it. Thanks, we usually don't get challenging assignments like this." The rest of the day went by fairly uneventfully, that is, until dinner. At dinner, the other campers would burn a portion of their meal as an offering to the gods. I did something quite different. I would burn at least three times as much as the others, and poured out some of my drink, something no one else did. I'd done the same at lunch, but no one had noticed until now.

Luke was the first to ask. "Hey, Alex? Why are you offering so much?"

"Well, I'm following camp tradition and keeping a law."

"Law? What law?"

"Alright, let me explain. One portion is offered to Hestia, in keeping with Greek tradition. Another portion is offered to another of the Olympians, today it was Hermes, tomorrow, it'll be someone else in keeping with the camp's tradition. And to keep one of the Levitical laws, I offer the first ten percent of my meal to Adonai El Shaddai."

"Who? I've never heard of him."

"I'm not surprised, considering our heritage. Adonai literally translates to LORD God Almighty. It's one of the names of my God."

"Yeah, and what about our parents?"

"They are simply beings that can manipulate the elements. Adonai created Earth, and life, just by speaking. Who, among the Greek deities could do that? Adonai is far beyond the Olympians. Besides, who said I had to give up my beliefs just because of my dad?" Luke let it go after that, and we soon headed to bed. My first day at Camp Half-Blood was over.


	6. Reunited

**A/N**: Okay, I know that you've probably never heard of Panacea or those other minor gods, but they are on Wiki's list of Greek deities, and I figured Luke would know of them for his recruitment efforts. And sorry for the wait, but I've been in the process of moving from Anchorage, Alaska, to Boise, Idaho.

**Mystery Boy:**

**The Alexander Chronicles**

**Part VI: Reunited**

The next day went pretty much the same, including that hated wall (Mr. D threatened to toss me into the middle of the woods if I didn't climb the wall,) except I gained a nickname. "Nygma? Why Nygma, Luke?"

"Simple, it's short for Enigma, or mystery. And you are a mystery, Alex. Your dad's a mystery, you honor a god none of us has heard of, you have very unusual talents and interests, and you won't even wear the camp T-shirt."

"I'll never wear that shirt, it's stupid. And who do the others think is my dad?"

"Well, the guy who's got the others have the most money on is Apollo. Another big one is Ares. . ."

"Wait, ARES? Why him? I can understand Apollo, but why _him?_"

"Well, you were able to beat Clarisse yesterday when you'd never even touched a sword before. That's usually a sign of Ares or Athena, and it's obviously not Athena, though you do sound like one of them. If it weren't for the fact that we buried your mom the other night, she would be on the list of potentials. Another one is Morpheus, considering you hear things when you're asleep. Oh, and I'd watch myself around Mr. D if I were you. Sounds like you made him _really_ mad."

That day, as I offered my usual amount to the Olympians and Adonai, I received some raised eyebrows, but no one asked questions. That night, as I played my violin, I thought I heard something coming from the south. I stopped playing and strained to hear and figure out what made it. As I listened, it became clear that it was the clomp of the hooves of something _big_. Then, from the same direction, I smelled the sea. I thought nothing of it, until I realized that the wind was blowing from the _west_, the one direction I shouldn't be able to smell the sea. I was heading out of the cabin when the hooves stopped moving and I got a strong whiff of sulfur, a sure sign of a monster's death. By the time I got to the Big House, Chiron told me that a half-blood had been found and placed in the building so he could recover from his fight, with the Minotaur!

Over the next two days, it took all my energy to focus on the activities at camp, especially when I found out that my old friend Grover had come in with the newbie. Boy, was I shocked when I found out that he was a satyr! Learning that he was a satyr was just one of two distractions I had. The other was perfecting my dream weapon. Fortunately, Beckendorf and Mason were able to create celestial steel their first try, and it worked _perfectly_. And working together, we were able to design it so that most of the time it looked like a pen, but with a push of a button, it would become a sword or a bow. But outside of that, I was thinking about the boy in the infirmary, especially considering I had realized that I could smell, and now _hear_, the sea coming from his room. The fact that Chiron wouldn't let me see him made me even more curious about him.

Luke was also able to distract me with the story of Thalia's tree, something I'd been wondering about since day one. He said that he had met Thalia about seven years before, then they met Annabeth a year later, and Grover found them a year after that and led them to the Camp. Unfortunately, they were beset by monsters and Thalia sacrificed herself to save them. Zeus wasn't willing to lose a child, so he turned her into a tree. Somehow, I felt more of a connection to that tree than to any family I'd ever had, and often went there to think things out. Unfortunately, it was also a very sad place for me, because they had buried my mother there.

Finally, on the third day after his arrival, I spotted him; odd thing was, I was sure I recognized him. Chiron had been taking him on the camp tour and was just leaving Hermes' Cabin. Apparently, the newbie was one of the undetermined, 'cause I heard Luke say "Now, now campers. That's what we're here for. Welcome, Percy. You've got a choice of a spot on the floor, or a section of the roof." _Percy_**?!** Nah, it couldn't be, could it?

"Percy? Is that really you?"

"Alex? What are you doing here?"

Luke was surprised to say the least. "Wait a minute, you two know each other?" We explained how we knew each other, and then Annabeth and I finished off his tour. We were on our way back when Clarisse showed up.

"Time for your initiation, newbie."

"Clarisse, I thought we agreed that you wouldn't attack my friends. Unless, of course, you want to get beat again. Oh, and Percy, meet Clarisse LaRue, daughter of Ares."

"War god? That explains the smell."

"You should have said he was your friend _before_ I found him. Now, come on, this is personal now." I signaled Jake for my spear, figuring I'd have a better chance of fighting Clarisse if I had a weapon. Unfortunately for Percy, she got him to the girls' bathroom before Jake could retrieve it. I was convinced she was about to dunk him in, when all of a sudden, the water from the toilets shot out at Clarisse, pushing her out of the bathroom. When her sisters attempted to join in, the showers started shooting them out. When it was over, only Percy and I were still dry, even Annabeth was soaked. I suddenly understood why I smelled the sea on Percy. When I looked at Annabeth, she was staring thoughtfully at Percy; I was convinced she had figured out the same thing I had.

"What? What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking that I want you on my team for capture the flag."

Over the next few days, we learned that Percy was terrible at almost all of the activities, the only ones that he seemed good at were canoeing (understandable, considering who I _knew_ had to be his dad,) and swordsmanship (of course, that _might_ have really been beginners luck). By the day of Capture the Flag however, Luke and I had been able to get his skills up from lousy, to just short of average, at least mostly, he still sucked with the bow and the spear. As you know, Hermes had allied themselves with Athena and Apollo, while we faced Ares, Demeter, Dionysus, Aphrodite, and Hephaestus. (Oh, and just so you know, Percy cut our numbers to at least a third of what they actually were at the time, probably to protect us. We had closer to 450 campers) Luckily for me, Beckendorf and Jake had been able to finish my sword, which I named Thuella (translation: Tempest), and they delivered it a day before the fight. Unfortunately, Annabeth put me and Percy on border defense, the most boring part of Capture the Flag. When I complained to Annabeth, all she had to say was "Athena always has a plan."

Soon after the fight started, I could have sworn I smelled sulfur coming from the same direction as the sound of a dog growling, fortunately at least one mile away. I had no time to focus on it though, as seven Ares and two Hephaestus kids came out of the bushes and charged us, with good ole Clarisse leading the way, shouting "Cream the punks!" She hit me with her spear, before moving on to Percy. Odd thing was, all the spear seemed to do was charge me up, and I quickly disabled two of the Ares kids and both of Hephaestus' kids. I turned to check on Percy, but he had already knocked out four of the remaining Ares kids and was in the process of finishing off Clarisse. At the same time, Luke was leading a group of our guys back from the other side with the flag. Still feeling charged up, I focused on the sulfurous smell, and threw my spear at it as hard as I could.

Chiron showed up a few seconds later, demanding to know why I tossed a spear that had almost hit him and Mr. D. Before I could answer however, we all heard a loud, but muffled dog whine, almost as if it were in it's death throws. A few Hermes boys ran off to check it out, but when they returned, they looked like they had stared death in the face. "Chiron, we think you should take a look at this." A few of us followed them, while the others stayed behind, listening to Annabeth saying something like "I thought it would be Zeus." When we arrived at my spear, we found that it had pierced an enormous hellhound through the mouth, killing it. When we returned to the creek, we received another shock; above Percy's head was a holographic trident. "It is determined," Chiron announced. "Poseidon, Earthshaker, Stormbringer, Father of Horses. Hail, Perseus Jackson, Son of the Sea God."


	7. The Quest Begins

**A/N**: Sorry about the _long _delay, I've just moved to Boise, Idaho from Anchorage, Alaska. And here's where some people are going to get mad at me, I'm going to have the quest follow the movie for the most part (it has Annabeth acting more like a daughter of Athena than the book).

**Mystery Boy:**

**The Alexander Chronicles**

**Part VII: The Quest Begins,**

**Or, I Leave the Camp without Permission**

After Capture the flag, things got a little, tense. After seeing Percy beat up five Ares campers, the only ones willing to train with him were me and Luke, and Luke was starting to push Percy hard. And I was getting upset with my fellow cabin-mates, all of them were talking about how Percy made the camp dangerous just by being there. At night, it wasn't much better. My dream was getting more frequent as the days passed, and a new element had been added: beyond the scythe and the youth was a hole with a rock over the entrance, and the rock had seven cords with seals on them, but one cord and seal had been broken. And beyond the rock I could hear a voice calling out, "Let me loose! Break the seals! Break the seals and I shall be free again!"

A few days after "The Incident" I notice a _huge_ storm heading our way, and Chiron walking towards Percy's cabin. I decided to follow and see if I could get any information as to what was going on. Fortunately by then, Jake and Charlie had finished a steel helmet that allowed me to become invisible, so I was able to watch unobserved. When I arrived I heard Chiron saying "Zeus' Bolt is the most powerful weapon ever created, and it's been stolen." Well, that explains the thunderstorms missing the lightning. "Everyone thinks you're The Lightning Thief. And if it's not returned by the Summer Solstice in ten days, there will be a war." Percy actually said that it wasn't his problem because it had to do with the world of myth. Silly Percy, didn't he know by now that he was part of both worlds, the mortal world and the mythological world? Chiron was upset about that too. "This is about _all_ worlds! Olympians would have to choose sides! Earth would become a battleground! Volcanoes erupting, earthquakes, raging fires, tornadoes, tsunamis! The end of life as you know it."

That convinced Percy. "What can we do?"

"We have only one choice, to retrieve the Bolt and return it to Zeus. And to do that, you must consult the Oracle. Now, head up to the Big House, she's on the top floor. I'll meet you at the door, assuming you're still sane." Still sane? What did that mean? I figured I'd better follow Percy, just to make sure he'd be safe. (NO, I'm not into guys, Percy's just the only friend I'd ever had for longer than three months. He was practically my brother.)

When we got there, we found a mummy that looked like it'd been dead since at least the seventies, more likely the sixties though. When we walked up to it, it looked straight at me and said _I am the spirit of Delphi, speaker of the prophecies of Phoebus Apollo, slayer of the mighty Python. I have been waiting for you, servant of the Most High._ She then handed me a large scroll with a Latin label saying: _**The Prophecy of Phoebe the Titan c. 30 AD**_. When I looked at Percy to see his reaction to that, he was shrouded in a green mist, and I could hear a voice saying _You shall be betrayed by one who calls you friend And you shall fail to save what matters most, in the end_.

After the Oracle experience, we were both pretty shaken. Percy stayed in the attic a good half-hour before he came out, while I headed to the beach. Luke had told me that only three people were allowed to go on a quest, and that any more invited disaster. I also knew that Grover and Annabeth would demand to go on the quest, Annabeth so she could actually test herself, and Grover needed to complete his protector duties so he could earn his horns and search for Pan. Unfortunately, that left me in a quandary, because I refused to leave Percy again. I knew there was a way to settle it, but I _really_ didn't want to. It wasn't until I heard them talk about leaving that I decided. I deliberated for a few more hours, but I did it, for the first time in my life, I prayed to someone other than God, I prayed to Zeus and Poseidon. "Alright, Zeus, Poseidon. You both have a stake in this, so please answer me. Do you want me to join Percy to find the Bolt? Zeus, please send three thunderbolts here if you want me to go. Poseidon, make three waves pass over my feet if you do." I figured that was the best way for them to answer, considering there literally wasn't a cloud in sight, and I was about ten feet away from the high-tide mark. I received my answer almost immediately, they both wanted me to go.

I turned back to the cabins, calling out "Charlie, Jake! Bring me Thuella, my shield, spear, and arrows, quickly!"

Luke came running when he heard that. "Alex! What do you think you're doing?"

"I'm going after Percy, and there's nothing you can do to stop me, Luke. So don't even try." Charlie and Jake showed up then and tossed my weapons to me in their disguises; a pen for Thuella, a watch for the shield, an ankh bracelet for the spear, and a packet of toothpicks for the quiver.

"Well, if I can't stop you, I guess the next best thing would be to give you the best chance of surviving that I can." He lead me to a small cabin behind the main Hermes cabin. It looked like a giant shoe store inside, there had to be a thousand shoe boxes in there. "My dad's a jerk, but he's got a lot of cool stuff. Flying shoes, my dad's got a million of these little guys. Look under them." I did, and found an old map of the US. "You see, people have gone to the Underworld without having to be dead. Orpheus did it, Hercules did it, my dad does it all the time. Getting in is the easy part, getting out, well that's tricky. This is a map to Persephone's pearls. She occasionally has secret visitors, and she keeps pearls hidden for them all around the world."

"Persephone? Hades' wife? I thought she really loved him?"

"Yeah, so? Hades really loves her, but it doesn't stop him from visiting mortals every so often. All the gods are the same, even if they love their spouse, they still like a little variety in their lives. These pearls provide a quick escape from the Underworld. To activate them, you take a pearl, you step on it, crush it, and visualize where you want to go. Now, there's three pearls in the United States. This map will guide you there, right here is your first location. After you locate that pearl, the map will lead you to the second, then the third, and then you're off to Hades."

"Thanks Luke, you've been a real help. By the way, you wouldn't happen to know what happened to the Demonio del Muerta, would you?"

"The what?"

"The monster that I rode into camp on."

"Oh, _that_ thing. You remember the mystery meat stew we had last night?" I nodded yes. "Apparently, since it still hadn't turned to dust, Mr. D had it cooked up. Your monster was the mystery meat."

"Really? Well, then I guess I should bring some more back, that was pretty good."

I had almost made it out of camp when Chiron and Dionysus showed up. "Sorry, Alex but we can't let you leave."

"Chiron, Mr. D, don't try to stop me. If you do, I'll make sure you regret it." As I said that, I pulled out Thuella and my quiver and nocked two arrows, aiming at them.

"Andy, why are you willing to risk your life for Peter? Why would you risk losing the only family you have for him?"

"Mr. D, the family you choose is far more valuable than your blood family. Percy might as well be my brother considering how close we are. And I am _not_ going to lose him if I can do something about it. Now move aside, or I will shoot you."

"Alex, don't be a fool! You can't shoot Mr. D! He's a god, he'd kill you!"

"Chiron, I really don't want to shoot you, so _please_ move." Chiron actually listened, but Mr. D refused to leave, so I shot him in the shoulder and throat. "Will you move _now_ Mr. D? If you don't, Ariadne might not want you until you heal." This time, his eyes started glowing as he stared at me, but nothing happened. "What's that? Is something supposed to be happening? And MOVE Dionysus!" He still didn't move so I shot him one more time in the crotch. After that, he moved alright, back to Olympus. I picked up the arrows from where they'd fallen on the ground and continued on my way.

After leaving the camp, I took Luke's flying shoes and took off after Percy and the others. Fortunately, it wasn't too hard to follow their trail. Along the way, I noticed that a bus had crashed along the New Jersey River Road. I flew down to take a look and I could easily smell sulfur, there had been monsters there not too long ago. When I landed I could hear the bus driver saying "Next thing I know, this kid grabs the wheel and starts turning it every direction! When I tried to get the bus off the road, he hit the emergency brake and we crashed into the trees."

Hmm, sounds like something Percy might do. "Excuse me, but was this guy about my age, had black hair, eyes as green as the sea, and wearing an orange T-shirt?"

"Yeah, that's definitely him. I could never forget those eyes. Oh, and he had two friends with him."

"A blond girl with the same orange T-shirt and intelligent gray eyes? And a black kid with crutches?" He answered yes again. Ok, definitely monster attack.

The cops started looking at me suspiciously, "You know something about this, kid?"

"Yeah, but considering you are _mere mortals_, I doubt you'll ever believe me. In fact, you'd probably call up the little men in white coats to throw me in a padded cell."

They didn't look too happy with the way I called them _mortals_, "Try us, kid."

"Alright, well the Olympians exist, and two of my friends are demigods, the other is a satyr. The reason they made the bus crash is because there was a monster on the bus. And when I say monsters, I mean like cyclops, minotaurs, Furies, things like that."

"Yeah, sure, sure they were." Then one of them whispered to the other, "Hey, Joe. Call the sanitarium, this kid's lost his mind." Ah, mortals, so predictable. With the little men in white coats on the way, I figured it would be best to get out while I still could, and flew off.

I'd barely gone ten yards towards the pearl when a few old friends showed up. "Ah, Meg! Tisi! Can't I stay away from you for _one week_? Why do you have to keep torturing me? What did I do to you? Or Hades for that matter? And why did you have to bring the Demon?"

"We want _VENGEANCE_! You killed us once before, now we're going to kill _YOU_! Tell us where it is though, and we'll make it quick and painless."

"First, I don't know what you're looking for, so how can I tell you where it is? Second, last time we met, I was weaponless and I had no training, and I still killed you. Do you really think that you'll survive now that I have both?" They just screamed like, well _Furies_, and charged. I pulled out Thuella and shot all three of them. The Furies burst into the sulfur dust, while the DM crashed into a tree. I figured this would be the best time to find out if the Hephaestus boys had been able to work the arrows to my specifications, so I shouted "_Epistrepho_!" or in English, _return_. It worked perfectly, the arrows flew straight to my hand. I would have to find a way to thank those two when I got back. I finally found Auntie Em's Garden Emporium, and naturally, there was trouble there.

**A/N:** My first cliffhanger, I hope it keeps you interested. Youngmeph asked me what the difference was between celestial bronze and steel. Celestial steel is harder than bronze, naturally, and it can affect special mortals, i.e. those who can see through the mist, and when encountered, those troublesome Egyptians, (hint, hint) otherwise, they're the same. Hope that clears things up. Also for Youngmeph, you can see the beginnings of Alex's two fatal flaws in this chapter, I'll let you try and figure out what they are. And for those interested, what Alex overheard that helped him make his decision to pray to the Olympians, Grover had asked "So, who knows how to get to the Underworld?" and Percy responded "Did not think of that one." As to what Dionysus was trying to do, he wanted Alex to go nuts, but because Alex had Zeus & Poseidon's blessing, they protected him from Dionysus. And don't forget the three R's that an author loves, **REVIEWS, REVIEWS, **and** MORE REVIEWS!**


	8. Auntie Em's & Background

**Mystery Boy:**

**The Alexander Chronicles**

**Part VIII: Auntie Em's and Background**

When I arrived at Auntie Em's, I heard Grover yelling for Percy & Annabeth, so I dived down towards them, and I crashed into Grover & Percy. "Alex, what are you doing here, and couldn't you two watch where you're going?"

"Perc! We're in Medusa's lair!" When Grover said that we both started yelling for Annabeth. It wasn't long before I heard someone saying, "Well this is a fabulous surprise. It's so heartening to have such young visitors. We get so lonely here. Don't we? That's why I create my statues. They're my only company, Daughter of Athena."

"Guys, Medusa's over there."

"Well that's good. At least we don't have to look for her." Good old Percy, always looking on the bright side. Unfortunately he didn't react so well when I told him that she was with Annabeth. "WHAT! We've got to save her."

"Don't worry, we will. But, do either of you know how she was killed in the myth?"

"GROVER! You mean you don't know? UGH! Wait, Perseus! Perseus was the one who killed her before, just let me think." Unfortunately, the silence just let me hear Medusa again. "Who turned me into THIS. They say the eyes are windows to the soul. I hope you find my eyes attractive. So rude not looking people in the eye. Come on. _Sneak a peek_."

"Great. How are we supposed to fight something we can't look at?"

For once, Percy remembered the myth before me. "We can . . . look at a reflection. Let me try this out." He pulled out a cell phone and voila! There was a reflection of Medusa on the phone.

"Sooner or later, you _will_ open those eyes. The temptation to look is too hard to resist."

"Don't look, Annabeth! Don't open your eyes!" Great, Percy. Now she knows Annabeth wasn't alone.

"Who's that? Another demigod." And now, she was after Percy. Well, at least Annabeth was safe now. "Son of Poseidon. I used to date your daddy!" She then pushed over a row of statues, trapping Percy under them. "I hear you have the Lightning Bolt! May I see it?"

"HEY, MEDUSA! Look over here!"

"What's this? _Another_ demigod? Interesting. Wait, why does his mortal blood smell familiar?" Huh? My _mortal_, _human_ blood smells familiar? What's up with that? "Ah! So _that's_ why! I can finally have my revenge on the House of Perseus for my first death!"

"What do you mean, revenge on the House of Perseus?"

"You don't know? You are a descendant of Perseus! I vowed many years ago that I would kill a son of Perseus and crush his statue to dust for what he did!" Well, I couldn't let her do _that_, so I took the most difficult shot of my life. Holding the bow so it pointed at her, and using my shield to aim, I shot. Luckily, it hit right where I wanted it to, her heart. Unfortunately, it didn't do a thing. "Nice try son of Perseus, but I am a _heartless monster_. And it's all thanks to Athena!" Well, if she doesn't have a heart, I figured I'd try out some other places. I shot nine more arrows at her, and _none_ of them had any effect, but hey, at least I now had ten poison arrows.

By now, she apparently had decided I was too much trouble to kill right now, and turned back to Percy. "Stay with me, Percy. _All you have to do is look_." But before Percy had a chance to give in to the temptation, Annabeth and Grover came charging in hitting her with a truck.

Medusa had already started looking for Percy, but apparently his cell phone caught her eye. She picked it up and . . . Percy took her head saying, "Head's up." All that was left of her were her clothes and her head.

"Annabeth, that was great, _great_ demigod driving. But, what do we do with the head?" But Percy was way ahead of Grover. He was already rummaging through M's office, and when he returned, he had a box that looked like it would just fit the head inside. When Grover asked what he was planning to do, Percy just ignored him and stuffed the head inside. I quickly realized what he was doing and grabbed the address label, and filled it in: _Athena, Mt. Olympus, 600__th__ floor, Empire State Building, New York, NY, With Best Wishes, Alex Summers & Percy Jackson._ "Why only Athena?"

"Why not, Percy? She was the one who got the head before, so why not now?" Apparently, none of them had a good answer to that, so they left it. Percy took a gold drachma and placed it on top of the box, and it disappeared in a puff of green smoke. While they were watching Percy, I was looking around for something that might be able to help, when I noticed Medusa's bracelet. It was a gold snake, but it had a blue sphere attached to it. When I took it out to take a better look at it, I realized that it _had_ to be the pearl, there was no regular gem that looked anything like this. "Well, that's one pearl down, two to go. Hey, Percy, what's that egg thing in your hand?"

"Huh? Oh, you mean this?" It _looked_ like an egg made of celestial bronze, but there was something unusual about the egg. "Oh, it's just something I found in the office. I thought it might be useful. Apparently, some guy named Ares paid for a statue with some of these." While I was examining the eggs, I heard a voice in my head say, _Take the eggs, Alex. You will need them in the future._ I'd heard the voice only on rare occasions, but every time I did, it gave advice that was extremely useful, so I took the pearls from Percy. We eventually convinced Grover to drive to the next pearl.

"Alright, if I'm going to be driving, someone's got to tell me where to go."

Percy & I both grabbed our maps and said, "The Parthenon in Nashville." Grover grumbled at that, saying it was the home of his least favorite music. Just to tease him, I started humming "I've Been Everywhere" by Johnny Cash.

After that, Annabeth finally asked the question that had been burning in their minds since I arrived, "So why did you decide to come with us?" So I told them what I'd told Chiron and D, that Percy and I were like brothers, and I couldn't abandon him even if I wanted to. "The Fates apparently made sure that we wouldn't be far from each other. We've actually gone to the same school since kindergarten. In fact, there's a lot of things that happened back then that we can understand now."

"Yeah, like the year that Doc Egan dated your mom. Remember all the monsters that showed up that year?" Of course, that just piqued Annabeth's curiosity, and she demanded to know more.

"All right, before Mom always dated jerks, and after she dated even worse jerks, eventually culminating in the Mess. But five years ago she met the one guy that was actually a nice guy. His name was Dr. Chris Egan, an archaeologist specializing in Ancient Greece. He was the _best_ guy that mom ever dated, probably including Dad _(no offense)_ he even liked me. Unfortunately, a lot of monsters showed up that year. Close to two dozen cyclops showed up at school, but most of them were actually fairly nice, at least half of them actually smiled at me. Then there were the three gryphons that followed me home a few times. Another time there was a snake lady with a Chihuahua. During a cross-country trip, I saw centaurs and some six-fingered giants, and ten Demonio del Muerta. When we went to a museum, the Egyptian statues were watching me, and one with a falcon head stared at me and said, _Save Me_. The only one who ever believed us when we said we saw them were my mom and Doc."

"Wait, you saw _all_ of those monsters in one year? And _centaurs_ and_ Echidna_**? **And you weren't attacked even once?"

"No, I guess they knew I was a demigod, but didn't know who my dad is. Anyway, on the anniversary of the day they met, Doc proposed. My mom pulled him into a side room and said something to him. Two days later, he gave me a model, said that it had something inside that I'd need one day, then he left."

"I remember that. You were depressed for a week after he left. You really hoped that he'd be your dad, huh?" I nodded. Of course I'd hoped Mom would marry him, he was amazing. While I was reliving the best time of my life, I suddenly had a few revelations.

"Hey, Annabeth? How many mortals would believe you if you told them you saw monsters?"

"Very few, why?"

"Doc believed me, remember? Is it possible that _he_ was a demigod, and Mom told him who my dad was, and that's why he didn't marry her?"

"You know, it is possible, but I think it's more likely that he's a clear-sighted mortal. I think two of my sisters have a last name of Egan."

"Hmm, it is possible. Doc did say he had two daughters, but their mom had left after they were born. And he said that it wouldn't be _safe_ if I ever met them. Come to think of it, I did see pictures of them once, and they _do_ look like you, except for the fact that they're brunettes." The more I thought about it, the more I was convinced I was right, Doc knew I was a demigod and that it would be dangerous for me if he married Mom.

"Wait a minute. Alex, wasn't the last model he got for you a model of the Olympia Temple to Zeus?"

"Yeah, I always wondered why he got me that. I mean I'd never shown any interest in Greek Mythology before that. Hey! What do you want to bet that Dad's true identity is somewhere inside?" I couldn't wait to get back to camp and find out! But, we still needed to figure out who had the bolt, so I fell asleep, hoping my dreams would say something about the thief.


	9. Warm Welcome

**A/N: **I did a small rewrite with this chapter. Before, I'd had Alex yell at Saturn in Greek. I've changed it so that now it's in Latin. Here's the translation: Stay in Hades! I'd rather die than help you!

**Mystery Boy:**

**The Alexander Chronicles**

**Part IX: Warm Welcome**

_Well, I dreamed alright. Unfortunately, it didn't help any. I was in Hades (the place, obviously) and before me was a pit that shot fire out of it. The ancient being was speaking to me, saying Hmm, a little young, but more powerful than your cousin. I could certainly use you. Your father hasn't claimed you boy, but I would treat you much better, son. Now, help me rise and strike a blow against the treacherous gods! Bring me the bolt and I shall make you even more powerful than your father!_ I had only one response, "Manete infernus! Malo mori quam te iuvare!" How I knew that Latin phrase, I still don't know. When I woke up, Annabeth asked "Who's asking for your help?"

"Huh?"

"When you were asleep you said 'I'd rather die than help you.' So, who wants your help?"

"I'm not sure, I've only seen his symbol. Who uses a scythe?" For once, she didn't have an answer. By that time, we had arrived in Nashville and were nearing the Parthenon replica. When we got in, we spotted the pearl easy, the problem would be getting to it, it was placed inside Athena's crown. Luckily, Percy had a plan.

That night, we came back to the Parthenon and hid in the bathroom until it had been closed for an hour. We then headed out to the main room, but we realized we had a problem, the janitorial staff was working. Annabeth pulled out a crossbow, put in a wood bolt, and shot them. While we were getting ready to move them, I realized something "Um, Annabeth, we've got a problem."

"What kind of problem?"

"Monster, what else? The janitors are monsters."

"Why didn't you say something before?"

"Because I couldn't smell the sulfur before! But now, UGH! The sulfur stench is the worst I've smelled! I bet that not even the Minotaur would smell this bad. Now, unless you have a way to block the smell, I'm going to get the pearl."

"Wait a minute, why should you get the pearl? Luke gave me a pair of winged shoes too, you know."

"Percy, your dad is _Poseidon_, god of the _sea_. _Zeus_ is god of the air, and your dad's biggest rival, and, as if he didn't hate you enough before, he thinks you're the Lightning Thief. So, how wise do you think it would be for you to fly? Give the shoes to Grover, at least _he_ won't be killed for flying." I flew up and tried to grab the pearl, but it was stuck, so I studied the crown. It took a few minutes, but I finally spotted an Alpha near 5 o'clock, and pushed it. The pearl popped out into my hand and I flew down to the others.

But we had a problem: the janitors/monster(s) had woke up and were coming towards us. Speaking in unison, they said "We've been expecting you Mr. Jackson. Just give us the Lightning Bolt and we'll let you go." It was then that I started to be able to see through the Mist enough to see their true forms, and I did not like what I saw.

"Look, I don't have the Lightning Bolt."

When he said that, the middle janitor shot a ball of flame out of his mouth, and I _knew_ what they were. "Umm, Percy. This is not the best monster to disappoint."

"Alex, what are you talking about? They can't be _that_ bad if they can disguise themselves as humans."

"Annabeth, for once you not acting like yourself. In case you didn't notice, I said _monster_, single, not plural!" I looked to the side so I could see it clearly, and it had begun shedding it's Mist-covered skin and revealed it's true nature. "And just so I can say 'I told you so,' Behold, the Lernaean Hydra!"

"YIKES!" We started running for the support pillars as Annabeth shouted, "Guys watch out, the middle one spews fire!" After a few minutes of Grover and Annabeth making useless attempts to stop it, Percy started chopping off it's heads. Obviously not an Athena-inspired plan, not with the Hydra anyway. "Percy! What did you think you were doing?"

"What? I killed that monster."

"No, you only made it worse. For every head you cut off, two more grow back." Even as she spoke, the heads were growing back.

That's when I got a _brilliant_ idea. "Percy, the eggs! You said they came from Ares, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"They're not eggs, they're _grenades_! Throw them into the Hydra's mouths!" Percy took my advice and started tossing the grenades into the Hydra. I started counting the seconds, waiting for them to explode. _four . . . five . . . six . . . seven . . . eight? _"Guys, we've got a problem! They're . . ." They finally exploded 15 seconds after Percy pulled the pin, ". . . duds? What took them so long? It usually only takes six seconds for them to go off."

"Who knows what goes on in Ares' mind? Let's just get out of here."

"Not quite yet Annabeth. I've got something I want to do." With that, I took out ten of my arrows and dipped them in the Hydra's blood. I now had five Medusa arrows, five Hydra arrows, and five Medusa & Hydra arrows. A nice little arsenal to test on the next monster. "Alright, now we can go." Percy checked the map, revealing the location of the final pearl as _The Lotus Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada_.

In St. Louis, we were waiting for our train to Vegas, when the TV caught our attention. _We interrupt our regularly scheduled program for this special report. Scientists are baffled by what now appears to be a single storm cloud that is expanding over much of Europe and Asia, moving towards the United States. Savage winds, rain, and mammoth waves are being reported along the coastlines of several continents. So far no casualties, but countries everywhere are preparing for the worst._ "The gods are angry." Just then a biker showed up. He looked like he would have made pro-wrestlers run for home. He was dressed in a red muscle shirt, black jeans, a black leather jacket, and had a huge knife or short sword strapped to his side. He wore wrap-around shades over his eyes, and had a brutal face that looked like he'd been in a large number of fights.

Or at least that's what I was told. What I saw was quite different. I saw an old soldier in worn out green armor that was probably bronze, but looked useless now. His eyes had sunken deep into their sockets and his face had more scars than a leopard has spots. "Oh, come now Annabeth. Not all of us are angry, just some of us. Personally, I just _love _the idea of another war."

Great, it was _him_. I had just met him and I already hated him as much as Athena did. "Ares."


	10. Trouble in the MileHigh City

**A/N**: Well, since I got a review question about this, I'd better answer it here for those who were wondering the same thing. The celestial bronze grenades are gone, you won't see them again. I just needed something to kill the Hydra with, so I came up with that. And for the source of my inspiration for using grenades, read _Pulse_ by Jeremy Robinson. Also, Alex and Annabeth are going to be translating the first three lines of Phoebe's prophecy, so here's the transliteration in _italics _as they would read itso you can follow along.

__

_Delpiratsongaramhitriyd_

_Vaarabaratsonamarrek_

**Mystery Boy:**

**The Alexander Chronicles**

**Part X: Trouble in the Mile-High City**

"You say that like you don't like me boy. Why?"

"Let's just say that Athena and I have something in common. We hate stupid brutality. And worthless old soldiers."

"WHAT! WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?"

"He didn't mean it lord Ares." Annabeth then turned and whispered to me, "Listen, you really don't want to get the gods mad at you, especially _him_. And no matter how much I agree with you, I can't let you insult him to his face. Now, why are you here?"

"I need you to do me a favor. I took my girlfriend on a date to a waterpark in Denver, and I left my shield there. I'd like you four to get it for me."

Percy seemed to like him almost as much as I did. "We're not interested. We've already got a quest."

"I know all about your quest, punk. When that _item _was first stolen, Zeus sent his best out looking for it: Apollo, Athena, Artemis, and me, naturally. If I couldn't sniff out a weapon that powerful ..." He licked his lips, as if the very thought of the master bolt made him hungry. "Well ... if I couldn't find it, you got no hope. Nevertheless, I'm trying to give you the benefit of the doubt. Your dad and I go way back. After all, I'm the one who told him my suspicions about old Corpse Breath."

"Really?"

"Sure. Framing somebody to start a war. Oldest trick in the book. Recognized it immediately. In a way, you've got me to thank for your quest." Hmm, it sounded to me like a trick _he_ might use. I wondered if Ares had something to do with the theft. Like he said, he should have been able to sniff out the Bolt. "Listen, just do my little job and I'll arrange for you guys to get a free ride west. I'll even tell you about your mom, cousin."

"Wait, my mom?"

"That got your attention. The water park is a mile west of the city on Delancy. You can't miss it. Look for the Tunnel of Love ride." After that, he just disappeared. After a bit of deliberation, we eventually decided to go after the shield, especially considering we didn't have enough money to get from St. Louis to Vegas to LA, but getting to Denver and then Vegas to LA we could almost certainly do.

While on the ride to Denver, I opened up Phoebe's scroll and started to work on translating it. "Need any help?"

"Hey, Annabeth. And no, not unless you can read Hebrew. Unfortunately I don't think that our parents thought we'd need to read it."

"What are you reading that's in Hebrew?" So I told her about how I'd followed Percy to the Oracle and how she'd handed me the prophecy. "Well, you're right about one thing, I can't read Hebrew, but could you teach me some basic words so I could help out?"

"That might help, but there are two problems. One, Hebrew uses a different alphabet. Two, it's written in the style of the ancients, which means there are no spaces between the words, so I don't see how you'd be able to help much." Luckily for her, I'm an easy target for a good pout and I gave in. To help her out, I transliterated the lines into Greek so she'd be able to read it better. "Alright, now for your first Hebrew lesson, I'll teach you two basic words, _ha_ and _va_. _Ha_ is _and_, _va_ is _the_. And watch for _-im_, that usually indicates a plural."

Well, she found _ha_ and _-im_ fairly quickly, but in context, it made no sense. "Alex, what does _haelohim_ mean?"

"_Haelohim_? It would usually translate to 'the God' but I've _never_ run across something being put in front of the name of God before. Are you sure that's what it reads?" She nodded _yes_, but I had to be sure. Well, she was right. "Hmm, why would the Oracle put something in front of the name of God?"

"Is it really that big of a deal?"

"Actually, yes. I'll give you an example. In Deuteronomy, you find Israel's declaration of monotheism. _Shma Yisrael, Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai Echad_. It literally translates to 'Hear O Israel, the Lord your God, the Lord is One.' Did you ever hear me say _ha_?"

"No, but wait, I thought you said that _-im_ is a plural. Why did you translate it 'God?'?"

"That's a long story, but El or Elohim can translate as God. Wait a minute! The Oracle wouldn't be talking about _God_; it would be talking about _the gods_, the Olympians!"

"And what about this _-im_ near the beginning?"

"Hmm, looks like that could be 'seven seals.' And _kashar_ is bind, _huratson,_ no; it's _hu ratson, _who shall. Okay, that's an interesting beginning, _Seven seals bind he who shall . . . who shall end the gods._"

"What? Are you sure?"

"Unfortunately. Any luck on the second line?"

"No, but the first few letters look like it might be Delphi."

"Hmm, _Delpi_. Yeah, that's probably how it would have been written. _Garam hitriyd_. Okay, the second line reads _Delphi shall cause worry._"

"What's _vaarabah_?"

"_And four_. Hmm, _Amar rek_. Okay, the first three lines read: _Seven seals bind he who shall end the gods, Delphi shall cause worry, And four shall stand empty_. Sounds like trouble's coming for the Oracle."

"I wonder why the first line doesn't rhyme with anything."

"I don't know, but there's probably a reason. I just hope we can figure out what these seals are before they're broken.

We stopped work until Denver, and we actually found the waterpark fairly easily, thanks to an eagle. Soon after we got to Denver, a golden eagle landed in front of me and asked me, _Do you need help, my lord?_ "Hey, did you guys hear that?" Percy and Annabeth just looked at me like I was crazy. _The son of Poseidon and daughter of Athena cannot hear me, my lord. _Ookay, well in that case, "Can you lead us to Waterland Park?" _Easily, my lord._ "And please stop calling me that." _Whatever you say, my lord._ Great, I never knew eagles to have a sense of humor.

The first thing they did when we got to the park was get some fresh, clean clothes. I would've joined them, except for two things: one, I _hated_ their clothes, and two, I still had the bag I brought with me from camp, so I still had two spare changes of clothes. We found the shield inside the boat for the _Thrill Ride o' Love_, and I breathed a sigh of relief. "Alex, what's wrong?" "Hmm? Nothing's wrong, I'm just relieved that the park is dry. I've always been afraid of being in the water or underground." The ride actually looked like it had been dry for a long time, but I stayed out just in case. Percy and Annabeth had just gotten the shield, when the cupid statues turned, and aimed at them; then their heads flipped back and revealed cameras. Over the loudspeaker, we could hear a voice saying, "Live to Olympus in one minute. . ." That's when Annabeth and I realized it was a trap by Hephaestus, meant for Ares and Aphrodite, that was why Ares didn't want to come here himself! They were really in trouble now, but then I heard Annabeth scream "AHH! SP-SP-SPIDERS!" Spiders? OH, that's right, Arachne! I was desperate to help them, and that's when I felt a tug in my chest, nearly identical to the one Percy described when he used his hydrokinetic abilities. "Thirty . . . twenty-nine . . ." As I watched, a wind picked up, inside the ride, and blew away the spiders, smashing them into the walls. After the spiders were gone, the wind died, and Percy filled the cavern with water. "Fifteen . . . fourteen. . ." The boat floated down the river towards a closed gate, and at the last second, Percy and Annabeth jumped out of the boat and safely into the pool below, with a little help from a waterspout I made. "Thanks for getting rid of the spiders, Percy."

"Umm, you're welcome, but that wasn't me."

"It was me Annabeth. Apparently I can control air as easily as Percy controls water." We eventually found Ares at a road-side diner, and he was actually disappointed; apparently we'd made it out just before the cameras started rolling. He took his shield and pointed us towards "our ride," an animal transport truck, then tossed us a backpack with clothes, money, and some Oreo's. But I could have sworn I "felt" something else in there, something powerful. Ares then told Percy that his mom was a captive, and still alive, then he left. With nothing better to do, and the truck drivers heading out, we got into the truck and I promptly fell asleep on top of the lion cage.

**A/N:** Well, that's it for Ares, for now. And what did you think of the translation part? Do you want more, or just give you the translation without the work? Also prepare for something that will sound very familiar next time Alex works on the translation. As for the waterspout, Alex is able to make it because it's technically not made of water, but wind (considering it's a twister over water). And I know that you probably know who Alex's dad is but _they_ don't. Up next: VEGAS and two surprise guests that I'm sure Nico would kill me for adding in, especially if Asilda is right about how he and his dad feel about their feature film. And I'm planning on three more chapters before Part II of The Alexander Chronicles, so please, send some Story Name suggestions!


	11. The Lotus Casino & Crusty's

**A/N:** I know that I'm leaving a lot of conversation out of the story, but that's just because I assume that all of you have read the book and watched the movie before now. If you haven't, sorry. And I'll just publish the final translation of Phoebe's prophecy. If you liked reading about the work translating it, sorry but it's a lot of work for me to type it up and I was just using it as a story filler.

**Mystery Boy:**

**The Alexander Chronicles**

**Part XI: The Lotus Casino and Crusty's**

We quickly realized that the "Humane Zoo Transport" was actually being used to smuggle animals, and when we reached Vegas, we set them loose, with the zebra actually _bowing_ to Percy. Luckily, we ended up right where we were supposed to be: the Lotus Hotel & Casino, but something was wrong. I didn't realize what it was until I looked at the other casinos. "Guys, I can read the sign."

"Yeah, so?"

"The sign is in _English_ Grover. I thought that our dyslexia meant that we couldn't read English, only Greek."

"Ah, you're getting paranoid, O son of the wind. Besides, don't you think that G-man would smell something if it was dangerous? Come on, we need to get the pearl." Sure, Percy. And Grover didn't smell anything at Auntie Em's or the Parthenon either.

In fact, Grover seemed to want to stay in the Lotus for a while and have some fun, fortunately I could count on Annabeth and Percy to stay focused on the Quest. Unfortunately, the place was _huge_, and I'd been smelling something that was making me dizzier by the second. The scent got stronger and stronger, so strong that it was close to literally splitting my head, until, "Try a Lotus Flower, they're _so_ good. It's our signature dish." Lotus . . . Loto in Greek, eater . . . phagi. They all grabbed a flower and Percy handed me one, which just made me dizzier. We all took a bite, and I immediately collapsed. "WOW. Guys, why don't we stay here for a while?"

"That sounds like an amazing idea. But we're on a _time-sensitive mission_ right now. Aren't we? And I know him, don't I?" I remember Percy shocking me with that, but what Annabeth said next shocked me into complete and utter blackness. "I think I figured it out, I think I know why we're here. To have fun!" The last thing I heard was Percy saying, "Okay! Let's never leave! Let's stay here!" And then I knew nothing.

I fought against the blackness for so long, time lost all meaning. For all I knew, the War could have started and ended already, decades, centuries could have passed, and I wouldn't have known. So many times I almost broke the surface to consciousness, but failed. Finally, I heard the voice saying, _Alex, my son, wake up. You've been unconscious for four days. You only have 30 hours to stop the War. Wake up, or you'll be forced to fight Perseus. Poseidon is even now preparing to wake his son, so WAKE!_ Well with that for incentive, how could I not obey? I finally broke free of the blackness, only to hear the most unusual thing when I did. "OHH, Hades is going to _kill_ us when he finds out we kidnapped his nephews for nothing! They don't even _have_ the Bolt or Helm!" The voice that spoke sounded like he whined and panicked a lot.

"You mean _IF_ he finds out!"

"What do you mean _if_? Of course he's going to . . . _If_, if is good." _No way. No way in Tartarus_ could it _really_ be them, but those lines, said like that, how could it be anyone but them?

"I don't believe it. Pain and Panic? You're real? I thought Disney made you up." And wouldn't you know it, Disney actually got their appearance right too, complete with tiny wings and barbed tails.

"Well of course we're real. But, listen. Could you not tell Hades about this? We'd get into a lot of trouble if you did." Sometimes it was really difficult to tell which was Pain, and which was Panic by the way they acted.

"Tell you what, I won't even tell Percy about this, _if_ you tell me where they are _and_ let us go."

"WHAT? Let you go? But we can't do that. We're not supposed to let anybody leave without Hades express permission." "**LISTEN!** Either you let us go, or I will tell Hades about you! _**UNDERSTAND?**_" They broke immediately. I was able to find Percy soon after that, and Dad was right, Poseidon had woken him up. We split up to find the others. I eventually found Grover, surrounded by a dozen beautiful girls. Percy and Annabeth met up with us there, and that's when Grover made the most surprising statement of his life. "Guys, your timing is terrible. Dude, we're heading to the chapel. We're getting married!"

"Oh, how romantic!"

"Annabeth, I thought you were Athena's daughter, _not_ Aphrodite's!" And believe me, she sounded like anyone _but_ Athena. Naturally, when Grover asked which one he'd proposed to, all of them raised their hand. "Percy, I think we need to get drastic with them." So I dragged them away, grabbed a cue stick and hit both of them on the head. "Come on, grab Annabeth and let's go!" We picked them up and ran for the door, with casino security chasing us the whole way; luckily there was a Maserati waiting at the door for us. I opened the doors and threw Annabeth and Grover inside. When Percy leaned in to check on them, I yelled at him, "Leave them lying, unless you plan on using them to hit somebody with." We then jumped in the car and drove off, glad to leave the Lotus Casino behind us.

"So, what happened in there, and do you know how long we've got, and what was with the _Lotophagi_ thing?"

"Well, I got a headache, and when I ate some of the flower, I blacked out. When I woke up, I was able to barter our way free. And apparently, it's the lair of the Lotus-eaters from _The Odyssey_, or Lotophagi in Greek. Odysseus landed there, and when some of his men ate the Lotus flower, they wanted to stay. I'm surprised you remember that. And apparently we've got about 29 hours before Zeus declares war on your dad."

"Whoa, hold on. What do you mean, you bartered our way out?"

"Well, Hades owns the place, and two of his minions didn't want us to tell Hades that they, quote "kidnapped his nephews for nothing."

"Wait a minute, nephews?"

"Yeah, us. So I guess that tells us who my dad is. Zeus, who would have though it?" We didn't talk much for the rest of the trip, but I realized we still had Ares backpack, and I was sure we didn't have it when we left the casino.

We finally stopped to rest at a motel, just south of Hollywood. When we woke up, we were down to 19 hours and 23 minutes before doomsday, Annabeth and Grover had woken up from their trances, and the Maserati had been stolen. We walked in the direction of our goal, the Hollywood sign, but along the way, we were surrounded by a gang of boys that looked like they would fit right in at Yancey Academy. Percy attempted to scare them off with Anaklusmos, but it just passed through them, so we ran into a store that Grover identified as Crusty's Water Bed Palace. Inside we met Crusty, a giant that looked like he'd been in the Lotus Casino for about 30 years. Soon, ole Crusty had Grover, Annabeth and I strapped to a bed, he was actually Procrustes from the travels of Theseus. And naturally he was still up to his old tricks, making visitors fit in his 6 ft beds, and apparently he was really disappointed with me, I was just one inch short for his beds. And while we were being stretched, Percy was actually _praising_ Crusty's work! When I looked at Annabeth, it was obvious that she didn't understand what Percy was doing either. Then, when all reason seemed lost, Percy actually tricked Procrustes onto one of his beds and cut his head off. Just as soon as our ropes were cut, he insisted we keep going. Grover immediately complained, "Give us a minute. We were almost stretched to death!"

"Then you're ready for the Underworld" Percy said. "It's only a few blocks away." Sure enough, the Hollywood sign was just outside the window.

We found the entrance to the Underworld easily enough; there was some "graffiti" in Ancient Greek that read _Woe to all depraved souls_, that was obviously the door. When we got closer, the hillside fell away, revealing a small passage. Once we were all in, the hill fell back to cover the entrance. We found an extremely thin man in an expensive Italian suit at a desk surrounded by souls. He demanded to know why we were there, and was pleasantly surprised when we said we _wanted _to go to the Underworld. But he was immediately suspicious when he realized we couldn't read his name tag (Hey, I challenge any dyslexic to read Psychopompus correctly the first time.) He soon realized we were demigods, but Percy was able to bribe him to let us go. When we got to Charon, it was a little more difficult. Grover quickly realized that he wanted paid, and tried to pay him with modern money. Charon just took it and burned it up. "_That was $170_. He burned _$170_ in the middle of a recession?"

"Grover, don't you remember anything about your history. You need to pay the boatman in _drachmas_. Now, does anybody know how many were usually paid?" None did, so I just gave him nine drachmas, three for each of us.

"The living are not allowed here. Die and come back."

"Well, we're not going to 'die and come back,' so how about a few more?" I eventually tripled the payment, and Charon finally relented and let us on the boat.

**A/N:** I know that Alex's reaction to the Lotus flower is unusual, but it does have precedent. The flower is essentially a drug, and sometimes drugs can have the opposite effect that it's supposed to. For example, in my family, my mom can only take one night-time pill, or she'll sleep to noon. My brother can take the same thing, and it will keep him awake, while it has no effect on me whatsoever. And if you just figured out who Alex's dad is when they did, well I pity you. I actually gave it away at the end of "The Pact." Next up, Hades and Ares, and Alex becomes a lot weaker, thanks to Ares.


	12. Retrieval

**Mystery Boy:**

**The Alexander Chronicles**

**Part XII: Retrieval**

The trip to the Underworld was depressing to say the least. The Styx was filled with unrealized dreams and unfulfilled potential. And everything around us was cold and black. When we neared the Judgment Pavilion, Charon said "Old Three-Face is hungry. Bad luck for any still living, twice as bad for you godlings." Normally, he would probably have been right, but now, under these circumstances, I doubted him. At the pavilion, there were two lines, one moving faster than the others. Annabeth explained that the faster line went straight to the Asphodel Fields, while the other line was for those who wished to be judged. And yet, that wasn't all I saw; in the distance, I could see an island in the middle of the Styx, with an Egyptian temple that seemed to be transparent. Inside I could see a human figure with the head of a canine animal, and a pair of broken scales, barely holding together. When I turned to ask Annabeth about the island, I could tell she couldn't even see the island.

When we got close to Cerberus, Percy tried playing with him, but I could see that wasn't working. So I tried my own approach, "Cerberus, DOWN!" He actually seemed scared of me. While the others went through what was essentially a tour of the Underworld, I thought of the four lines I'd translated since we arrived at Denver: _The Oracle, the Rich One shall bind; To one body she will be confined; Any who take on the spirit be warned; Madness shall befall any who take on Delphi's curse. _Somehow, I knew it had something to do with the fact that the Oracle was still in the body it used in the seventies. I had almost given up, when Luke's winged shoes turned on, and carried me and Grover towards a pit. I was able to regain control of them fairly quickly, but Grover kept hurtling towards the pit. So I flew towards him, grabbed his hands, and started fighting the shoes. Suddenly, I got an idea, "Grover, let go of my right hand! I'm going to try something!" When he let go, I grabbed my pen and hit the third button I'd had hidden under the clip. When it activated, I stabbed it into the ground, and luckily, it stopped us. Unfortunately, it wrenched my arm so bad, I thought I'd dislocated it. Fortunately it bought us enough time for Percy and Annabeth to catch up to us and get Grover's shoes off of him. The shoes kicked our heads, and then flew into the pit. The air suddenly became cold, and I could hear the ancient voice yelling _NO!_ "What was that? One of Hades pets?"

You wish, Grover. I now knew what was in there, but I wanted to relieve the tension, not increase it to the breaking point. "Well, _that_ was close."

"Yeah, but how were you able to control them?" Smart Annabeth, always asks the right questions.

"Well, they work in the air, so thanks to dad, I have complete mastery over them."

"That's all good, but what are you doing with _a trident?_ That's _my_ weapon, not yours! Yours would be a _lightning bolt_ if you could wield it." (After we'd learned about my heritage, Percy had IM'd Chiron and asked if anybody could use the bolt. Apparently, dad had made it so only a demigod with his blessing could wield it, and he'd _never_ given anybody his blessing, not even Heracles or Perseus.)

"Look, can we argue about territory later? We've got work to do." Annabeth was clearly in shock about what Percy had said, but reminding her of our job got her back on track.

Hades' palace was impressive to say the least. If you think Persephone's garden was tempting to Percy, it was doubly tempting for me. I had to say, if Persephone was as tempted by the fruit as I was, then I was surprised my sister lasted as long as she did before giving in to Hades. But the palace itself was amazing, it was made entirely of obsidian, with jewels every six inches and torches every two feet. It wasn't until we were nearly at the throne room that I noticed something. "Percy, is the backpack heavier?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Remember how I told you that I could almost sense something in there, like it's there, and yet not there? Well, I can sense it a lot better now, like it's finally _here_. And believe me, whatever it is, it's extremely powerful." When we walked into the throne room, the first thing I noticed was the pale man from my dreams, sitting on the throne, welcoming us by saying "Nephews. Welcome."

"_It's you!_"

"You seem surprised, nephew. Why?"

"Oh, nothing Uncle. Seeing you just cleared up a big mystery." Of course, I didn't know for sure, but I knew this conversation would confirm my suspicions.

When he turned to Percy, it was obvious that this could be very dangerous for him. "You are brave to come here, Son of Poseidon. Especially after what you've done to me. Brave, or simply foolish." I have to say, Hades was probably right about the latter, considering Percy was crazy enough to ask Hades to prevent the war by giving him the Bolt. It wasn't until Hades accused him of doing something a second time that he was smart enough to ask, "Um ... Uncle, you keep saying 'after what you've done.' What exactly have I done?"

"Do you think I _want _war, godling?"

"You are the Lord of the Dead. A war would expand your kingdom, right?"

I decided to but in before Hades got mad at him and killed us. "Percy, were you paying attention when we passed the Asphodel Fields? Do you really think the Underworld needs expanding?"

"_Thank you!_ Finally, someone who understands me! I used to be a rich god! I control all the wealth under the earth. But my expenses!"

Then Percy did something more foolish than asking Hades to stop the war. "Psychopompus wants a raise."

"Don't get me started on Psychopompus! He's been impossible since he discovered Italian suits! Problems everywhere, and I've got to handle all of them personally. The commute time alone from the palace to the gates is enough to drive me insane! And the dead just keep arriving. _No, _godling. I need no help getting subjects! I did not ask for this war."

"So, you have your own reason to go to war? Maybe someone stole something from you too?"

"Yes, but how did you know? Unless _you_ were the thief, Son of Jupiter. Maybe because you thought I stole your father's weapon?"

Ok, that was weird. Why did he call me the son of Jupiter? "Actually, at the time, neither Percy nor I knew about our heritage. It wasn't until Alecto attacked Percy that we even suspected you might be real. As for how I knew, I've been having dreams."

"Then give me my Helm of Darkness."

"But I don't have the Helm. I came for the Bolt."

"Which you already possess! Did you think you could threaten me with it so I wouldn't attack your father? Or maybe to get your mother back?" Percy was confused and opened the backpack. Boy, was he shocked when he saw the Lightning Bolt inside. We each reached for it, but the others were shocked when they got too close to it. When I reached for it, however, it flew to my hand and I immediately knew that I could use it for any purpose I wanted. I could even give in to The Voice and attack Olympus if I wanted. But, as I had told everyone since I'd determined to follow Percy, I was loyal to friends and family. No matter how much The Voice tempted, I would never give in to it's demands.

"My demand remains, _**GIVE ME MY HELM!**_ Or you'll never leave the Underworld!"

"Percy, use the pearls and get out of here!"

"But what about you?"

"I'll just fly, now GO!" Percy and the others did as I asked, and I shot Hades with the Bolt, and then his zombie soldiers if they got in my way. As I flew out, I passed by Tartarus I noticed something I'd missed when I was being pulled towards it: another hole, but this one was covered with a stone and had seven seals over it. And one of the seals had been broken. The first line of Phoebe's prophecy flashed through my mind: _Seven seals bind he who shall end the gods_. At least now I knew that _he_ wasn't my grandfather. When I passed by Cerberus, all he did was whine and put his tail between his legs.

When I got to the surface, I'd expected Percy and the others to be waiting for me, but I found them at the Santa Monica Pier. And wouldn't you know it, Ares was there too. And to my shock, Percy was actually battling Ares! Just as I got there, Ares blasted away the cop cars saying "This is a private matter. Be gone!"

"Private, eh Ares? Then I suppose that I'm not supposed to do THIS!" I yelled. I then shot him with the Master Bolt, knocking him on his back. He got up just in time for Percy to hit him with a six-foot wall of water, and Percy slashed his heel. Ares was so furious that the sea blasted away, leaving a fifty-foot circle of wet sand, with ichor flowing out of the wound. Ares looked like he was about to blast us to nothing, when _it _happened.

Light, sound and colour faded to almost nothing. A cold, heavy presence passed over the beach. As it passed, time slowed, the temperature dropped, and a sense of doom and gloom settled on us. Then just as suddenly as it came, it was gone. Ares lowered his sword and turned towards us saying, "You have made an enemy godlings. Perseus Jackson, you have sealed your fate. Every time you raise your blade in battle, every time you hope for success, you will feel my curse. Alexander Summers, I had given you a blessing before your birth, that blessing is now your curse. Beware!" Annabeth then yelled to us saying not to look, but I watched. As I watched, I saw the mist burn away and Ares started glowing, and then vanished.

After handing Alecto the Helm of Darkness, Percy mentioned that there was only one way to get to Olympus before the deadline, flight. Annabeth stared at him "Fly, like, in an airplane, which you were warned never to do lest Zeus strike you out of the sky, _and _carrying a weapon that has more destructive power than a nuclear bomb?"

"Well with me going with you, what's the problem? I mean, Dad's not going to blast_ me_ out of the sky, especially considering we've got the Bolt." Annabeth conceded that, and we headed to LAX.


	13. Olympus

**Mystery Boy:**

**The Alexander Chronicles**

**Part XIII: Olympus**

We were mobbed before we could get to the airport. Apparently, Percy had been a fugitive before the fight with Ares, and since then was cleared as a kidnapping victim, along with his three friends. (What? I didn't pay attention to the news much at the time.) When Percy gave his interview, well, it was completely unbelievable. "All I want is to see my loving stepfather again. Every time I saw him on TV, calling me a delinquent punk, I knew ... somehow ... we would be okay." Like I said, unbelievable, especially to me and Grover. We just stood to the side in shock, until he finished his statement. "And I know he'll want to reward each and every person in this beautiful city of Los Angeles with a free major appliance from his store. Here's the phone number." When he said that, all three of us just burst out laughing.

When we were getting on the plane, Percy confronted me about the Trident I had in the pen. "When we you going to tell me about it? And why do you even have it? You obviously knew that Poseidon wasn't your father, so why carry it?"

I'd already thought of an answer, so I said, "Well, I thought one of us could use it if we got into a fight like you did with Ares. With a trident, you could easily break a sword if necessary. If you insist though, I think I could convince Charlie and Jake to separate the trident and give it to you." Percy turned it down saying that Anaklusmos was good enough for him, and he actually gave me permission to keep it. After we were seated, I got back to work on Phoebe's prophecy. By the time we landed in New York, I'd translated six more lines: _Three shall work an ideal; That which shall bring great ones to heel; The first seal broken: A symbol of power stolen; Two half-bloods of the eldest gods; Shall reach sixteen against all odds_.

Before going to Olympus, we had Annabeth and Grover head back to Camp Half-Blood (just in case Zeus decided to zap us anyway.) We had only fifteen minutes left by the time we reached the Empire State Building. When we got to the front desk, Percy asked to go to the 600th floor. The guard eventually turned to us and actually claimed there was no such floor. "We need an audience with my father, Zeus."

"Sorry?"

"You heard Alex."

"No appointment, no audience, kiddos. Lord Zeus doesn't see anyone unannounced, not even his own kids."

I was getting annoyed by this point. Oh, I think he'll make an exception for me." I opened my hand, where I held the Bolt, in a miniature form.

The guard looked at the little bolt for a few seconds, obviously not believing what it was. Then his face went pale, and he stuttered, "That's not . . ."

"Yes it is. You want Alex to just leave it here with you then?"

"_**NO! NO!**_" He scrambled out of his seat, pulled out a security key and handed it to us. "Here! Insert this into the keyhole marked 'Staff Inspection' then hit Omega! That will take you to Olympus!" We did as he said, and by the time we reached Olympus, one, I was ready to destroy the elevator speakers; and two, we were down to five minutes to get to the throne room. Looking at Olympus, I wasn't sure we'd be able to get there in time. It was literally a mountaintop covered with a city built in the style of Ancient Greece, with what was obviously the throne room at the peak. Oddly, no one seemed to be worried about the impending war, in fact, they seemed to think that it was a time to celebrate (I would later learn that that's the way Olympus always was, no matter what was happening.) We got there just as my father said "Time has run out."

We weren't prepared for what greeted us though. In front of us were twelve giant thrones and an equally large fireplace. Around the fireplace, there were four giants, each at least 40 feet tall. One I recognized immediately as Hestia, although she seemed quite different from when I met her last month at Camp Half-Blood. With the other three, I could have sworn that we were looking in a mirror that aged us twenty years, at least it would have seemed that way if Annabeth were there. The woman was by far the most beautiful I'd ever seen, and she seemed to be a mirror image of Annabeth, except the woman had black hair. The two men both had dark blonde hair (the same shade as mine); one with a full beard and storm-gray eyes, the other had darker hair, a slightly thinner beard and sea-green eyes that were identical to Percy's. We bowed to our fathers and Percy greeted Poseidon. Zeus was not happy about that; "Should you not address the master of this house first, boy?"

"Peace, father. The boy defers to his father. That is only right."

"He still claims him then? You claim this child whom you sired against our sacred oath?"

"Hypocrite. Your own son is standing there too. I thought you had agreed to my advice sixty years ago."

"You're wise as always, daughter. Now, give me the Bolt, Lightning Thief." When I tossed the Bolt to my father, he was surprised to say the least, but he still thought Percy was the thief. "You were wise to betray your father."

"Percy didn't steal it, father. I was with him the whole day on the winter solstice, and we weren't even in New York City that day. In fact, we didn't even know that you existed until about four months ago."

"If he didn't steal it, then who did?"

"We don't know." Percy and I then proceeded to tell our parents and Athena all that had happened over the past four months. When they started to talk about whether Ares would have done such a thing, we interrupted and explained our idea, telling them about our dreams and experiences in the Underworld. They had a quick discussion, and even with my gifted hearing, I only caught one word, _Father_. "I believe that this assembly's business is finished. Perseus, if you ever attempt to fly again, I will turn this on you. But in any case, well done, both of you. And Alex, when you return to the camp, I shall claim you as a true Prince of the Air."

WOW! Prince of the Air? It was amazing, but "Thank you father, but no."

"No? Why not?"

"I want you to wait until the final day of the summer camp. I don't want to come off as power-hungry to the other campers. Besides, this is Percy's summer, let them honor him on this years' bead. I'm content knowing that YOU are proud of me."

"Very well, so be it. I shall claim you on the final night then, right after the toast." After that, Percy and I headed down to the ground floor, and back home to Camp Half-Blood.

**A/N:** Thirteen down, one to go. I can't believe I've actually been at this for more than six months! The final chapter will cover the end of the summer camp, and I will have it up just before the movie is released on DVD and Blue-Ray, on June 29th. Also, did any of you recognize the last two lines of Phoebe's prophecy?


	14. End of the Beginning

**Mystery Boy:**

**The Alexander Chronicles**

**Part XIV: The End of the Beginning**

Before we actually went to Camp Half-Blood, Percy had us stop at his home. When we arrived, we were greeted by Mrs. Jackson, who immediately took Percy into a bone-crushing hug. Apparently Hades had released her that morning, with no memory of the past month. When we finally entered their apartment, I realized that Gabe could actually be worse then The Mess: garbage was ankle deep in places, the couches were buried under a mountain of beer cans, and Gabe and his friends were doing nothing to make the place look better, only playing poker at the dining room table. Gabe verbally attacked Percy and even threatened to hit Mrs. Jackson; I was so furious that I was about to attack him, until I realized I didn't know how to fight anymore! I tried thinking about attacking him with multiple weapons, but all I knew how to use were the javelin and bow. I immediately realized what had happened; it was because of Ares that I knew how to fight so well and now, all that knowledge was gone. I realized that I couldn't help at all, so I told Percy that I would stop by my home, and meet him at camp.

When I arrived at my house, I received a big shock. Somebody else was living there. Apparently The Mess had died of a drug overdose more than three weeks ago and the city had sold it. So I turned on the shoes and flew back to the only home I had. When we arrived, everybody treated us like conquering heroes: they crowned us with laurel wreaths and had a huge feast to celebrate our return and Grover was rewarded with the searcher's license that he'd been coveting and he finally received his horns. After the feast, we burned the burial shrouds they'd made for us in case we didn't return. Annabeth's shroud was amazing—gray silk with embroidered owls. Percy's was made by Ares, so I wasn't surprised when they revealed it: an old bed sheet that had smiley faces with X'ed out eyes for a border and 'LOSER' painted in the middle. My cabin mates from Hermes had taken a gold satin sheet, stitched question marks for a border, and in the center, put a picture of my dead body surrounded by a hundred piles of sulfur, with 'Nygma' at the top.

One week later, Percy got a letter from his mom that he shared with me. Apparently, she had used Medusa's head on Gabe and sold him to an art museum in Soho, and was using the money to start school, get a new apartment and she put down some money for Percy and me to go to a private school next year. When I read that, I was moved to tears. I'd never had anyone take care of me like that other than my mom. Whenever I wasn't busy with other things, I was thinking about whether or not to take her up on her offer.

In the meantime, I talked to Chiron and found out I had three would-be step-siblings in the Athena cabin. Doc had had three kids with Athena: Sarah-15 years old, Joseph-14, and Grace- also 14. We soon became friends and I learned that Doc was still in love with my mom, but didn't want to put any of us in jeopardy because of our combined scent. Professionally, he was trying to prove that Theseus and Perseus were real people and he occasionally brought them along to his digs. I kept up my training with Luke, but I found out that Ares had left me with a learning disability when it came to weapons; it took me twice as long to learn anything when compared to the average camper. On a positive note, I had finished translating the first part of Phoebe's prophecy. Completed, it read:

_Seven seals bind he who shall end the gods_

_Delphi shall cause worry_

_And four will stand empty_

_The Oracle, the Rich One shall bind_

_To one body she will be confined_

_Any who take on the spirit be warned_

_Madness shall befall any who take on Delphi's curse_

_Three shall work an ideal_

_That which shall bring great ones to heel_

_The first seal broken:A symbol of power stolen_

_Two half-bloods of the eldest gods _

_Shall reach sixteen against all odds_

_One of the sea, accused of theft_

_One of the air, of mortal parents bereft_

_The first claimed as a final gambit_

_The second, on the final night_

_United from birth_

_The truth they shall unearth_

_The second seal broken:_

_Betrayal by a friend_

_The third seal broken:_

_The guardian tree poisoned_

_Beware Circe, Moshe's ancient law shall claim your life_

_The son of the air shall carry out its judgment_

_The great General shall be freed_

_The betrayer carries his burden_

_The fourth seal broken:_

_A virgin huntress shall bear the sky_

_But beware mighty Titan,_

_A Gorgon shall imprison you forever_

_The Crooked One shall rise once more_

_And among the minor gods increase his rapport_

_The fifth seal broken:_

_The Labyrinth invaded_

_A rejected son shall seek solace_

_And ally himself with the prisoner who is formless_

_The sixth seal broken:_

_The Crooked One lives again_

_Eldest son of wisdom, shall finally fall to death_

_And destroy the great maze with his final breath_

_They shall see the world in endless sleep_

_The hero's soul, cursed blade shall reap_

_A single choice shall end his days_

_Olympus to preserve or raze_

_The seventh seal broken:_

_The gods fall, the West dies, the Sixth Age begins_

_Should Olympus fall, the years they reign shall number seven_

_And then the LORD of Lords shall descend from heaven_

_And if Olympus shall be maintained,_

_The minor gods shall have gained_

_Respect and cabins shall Balance win_

_All through the sacrifice of a son_

_But beware Egypt's rise_

I couldn't believe it, but this prophecy seemed centered on me and Percy. Two half-bloods of the eldest gods: one born of the sea (Poseidon), accused of theft (the Lightning Bolt) and claimed as a final gambit (to save Poseidon from an unwanted war); the other born of the air (Zeus), with no mortal parents (Mom died just outside camp, and she never married) and claimed on a final night. But I was worried about what it said about the second seal: betrayal by a friend, that sounded suspiciously similar to the second-to-last line of Percy's prophecy at the beginning of the quest.

The final night finally came, and they unveiled the bead for this year, a black bead with a sea-green trident, which according to Luke "commemorates the first Son of the Sea God at this camp, and the quest he undertook into the darkest part of the Underworld to stop a war!" Just after that, everyone gasped and stared at me. I couldn't understand why until Annabeth pointed above my head. When I looked up, I saw a lightning bolt, Dad had finally claimed me. Chiron shouted, "It is determined! King of Olympus, Ruler over the Air, Wielder of the Lightning Bolt. Hail, Alexander Summers, Son of Zeus!"

I sneaked away as soon as possible, but before I had been gone an hour, I felt a tug in my stomach, something I'd only felt once before, during the winter solstice. I had a terrible feeling I knew what it was, and started searching for Percy. I found him deep in the forest, near the creek with an empty Coke can in the creek and a dead scorpion nearby. I dragged him into the creek and shouted for Chiron.

Percy awoke the next day and told us what had happened, Luke had been working for Cronus the whole time, and it was Luke that stole the Bolt and Helm. "_The second seal broken: Betrayal by a friend_," I quoted. "It's part of Phoebe's prophecy, and apparently Luke's fulfilled it." Later, Percy, Annabeth and I made plans for the next summer: we would go out and hunt down Luke, with or without permission. I told Percy that I had finally decided to stay at camp for the year, but to tell his mom thanks. I would see what this place had to offer for the year-rounders, and maybe I'd go see the man who would have been my step-father, Dr. Chris Egan, son of Apollo.

**A/N**: WOW! I can't believe that I'm actually DONE with this! Thanks to my wonderful reviewers: , smartgirl73, Maya Potter Jackson, TaylorTyper, youngmeph, KhairulJBlack, Ash, biblioholic, Katoo, playstationdemon, **Star of Calamity **(my first reviewer!), ReadingObsession, SeaweedGirl1, artimisgirl101, WELOVEOLYMPUS. Litlemusa, YearOfDreams, ladymoonsoar, britgirl96, Xxvampireknightfan01xX, and KenZe! And here's a preview of The Summer Odyssey, Part Two of The Alexander Chronicles.

Camp was hell.

I know, you'd think that a camp where you learn to be a hero would be heaven on earth. But for me, Alexander Summers, only living son of Zeus, it was hell. Everyone had been staring at me since Dad claimed me, obviously expecting me to be exceptional at everything. But when I couldn't even beat the newest camper in a duel, everyone started teasing me. My only relief came when Dad contacted me and said I could come to Olympus for a while and meet the family. Of course, I jumped at the opportunity.


End file.
